This report is about residential aged care and information provided about the legal choice of voluntary assisted dying (VAD). Despite VAD being legal in every state and the ACT, the report finds that the majority of Australia’s residential aged care providers are yet to give VAD the same support and visibility as other end-of-life choices.

This report sets outs voluntary assisted dying activity in Victoria, Australia, from 2024 to 2025. It finds the objective to provide safe access to voluntary assisted dying was realised over the past 12 months. However, barriers to timely access and concerns around program sustainability remain. Addressing these matters is essential to realising compassionate end-of-life care.

This chapter examines the concepts of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) and the law and regulation that govern it. The chapter begins by defining VAD and outlining why this term was chosen, given the range of terminology choices in this field. It then examines what is meant by law, regulation and practice in the context of...

Regulation aims to enhance the safety and quality of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) and promote compliance with legal and system requirements. This chapter proposes that VAD regulation is more likely to be effective when it is designed in a holistic way. Research into and evaluations of VAD regulation should also adopt holistic approaches.

Patients seeking to access voluntary assisted dying (VAD) are likely to be concurrently receiving care from institutions with different levels of participation in VAD. This article reports on the various institutional approaches to VAD based on interviews with regulators. Overall, the findings revealed significant diversity in how institutions approached various VAD activities.