Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today on behalf of a constituent, Eve, as part of the Raise Our Voice Australia initiative. This is Eve's speech:

My Mum passed away in August 2023 via Voluntary Assisted Dying.

Her death, whilst peaceful, was not without suffering.

Mum suffered from end-stage renal failure and had been on dialysis for three years.

With the current wording of our legislation, Mum wasn't considered eligible to access VAD until she ceased dialysis.

It took nine weeks for VAD approval following her final submission. Had she discontinued dialysis, the application process would have taken longer than her life expectancy.

I encourage our federal representatives to advocate for further expansion and unification of the legislated eligibility criteria for VAD.

Death and illness do not discriminate.

Unifying eligibility criteria would help enable equal access for all Australians, regardless of location.

Had those changes been in place, my mother could've avoided unnecessary suffering and had a less traumatic passing.

I thank Eve so much for her courage and generosity in sharing her mum's story. Much does need to be done to improve end-of-life care in this country. I commit to working on this for as long as I remain in this House.

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