Voluntary assisted dying is now available almost everywhere in Australia. This means eligible adults can choose to end their lives with medical assistance.
Authors
- Ben White
Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology
- Casey Haining
Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology
- Katrine Del Villar
Lecturer in Law, Queensland University of Technology
- Madeleine Archer
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology
In November 2025, the Australian Capital Territory voluntary assisted dying laws came into effect.
Of the states and territories, this leaves only the Northern Territory without voluntary assisted dying.
But the NT looks set to change its laws mid-year - and other states are reviewing their current legislation.
Here's what to expect in 2026.
What might change in the NT this year?
In September 2025, a NT parliamentary committee recommended introducing voluntary assisted dying. It provided drafting instructions for a new bill to be written.
As 2026 began, the NT government announced it would introduce a voluntary assisted dying bill, set to be tabled mid-year. This will be decided by a conscience vote, as occurred elsewhere in Australia.
If the bill follows the national trend, it will pass. But local factors will be significant in the parliamentary debates and may influence how the law is written or implemented.
For example, the NT's small population is spread out over a large expanse, and it has a higher proportion of Indigenous residents ( 30% ) than other jurisdictions.
If a bill does pass, the laws are unlikely to come into effect for some time, to allow for the system to be properly set up. Based on timeframes elsewhere, territorians would likely have access to voluntary assisted dying in early 2028.
Will this 'nationalise' voluntary assisted dying?
Until now, voluntary assisted dying has largely been a matter for the separate states and territories. This has meant strict residency requirements in jurisdictions that allow it.
Currently, these requirements limit voluntary assisted dying access to people who have lived in the particular state or territory for a specified period (although there are some exemptions).
But if the NT joins the rest of the country and voluntary assisted dying is permitted nation-wide, these requirements are not needed.
Commonwealth law also currently bans using telehealth to discuss or arrange voluntary assisted dying for patients. This is due to pre-existing criminal legislation related to "suicide" - not specifically intended to apply to voluntary assisted dying.
There is a very simple legislative fix for this problem: explicitly stating that the ban does not apply to voluntary assisted dying consultations.
But it has not been on the federal political agenda. If voluntary assisted dying becomes available nationally, it will be harder to justify why this barrier remains.
What about existing laws?
Mandatory reviews of voluntary assisted dying laws may mean further changes are ahead.
Victoria was the first Australian state to introduce voluntary assisted dying, in 2017, and still has the most conservative model. It was also the first Australian state to review its law .
In late 2025, Victoria made some legislative amendments to improve access. Some of these changes, which will come into force in April 2027, include:
allowing doctors to raise voluntary assisted dying with a patient (previously prohibited)
extending the expected time until death 12 months for all conditions
requiring conscientiously objecting medical and nurse practitioners to provide information about voluntary assisted dying to patients who ask about it.
These reforms will bring Victorian laws in line with some of the other Australian jurisdictions.
Western Australia has also completed its first review . This recommended changes to policy and practice to improve access and support for eligible people and voluntary assisted dying providers. In 2026, Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales will also be reviewing their laws.
Significantly, the Queensland review will examine the eligibility criteria (who may access voluntary assisted dying). This was not a requirement of the Victorian and Western Australian reviews.
Law reform may also occur outside these mandatory reviews. In late 2025, the New South Wales parliament considered a proposal which would make it easier for residential facilities that object to voluntary assisted dying - including aged care facilities - to prevent it happening onsite.
This bill did not progress , but the issue remains contested.
What else will be on the agenda in 2026?
The ACT's new laws give specific powers to nurse practitioners - in line with Canada, but a first in Australia. They are permitted to be one of the two required practitioners to assess eligibility (the other must be a doctor).
The ACT is also unique in not requiring someone to have a specific expected timeframe until death to be eligible. In other states, this is six or 12 months.
Still, we expect the types of conditions people will access voluntary assisted dying for will be similar to other jurisdictions. But ongoing monitoring of how the system is working in the ACT, and who is accessing it, will be important.
It is likely access for people with dementia will also continue to be debated in 2026.
Dementia is now the leading cause of death in Australia.
Unlike some other countries such as the Netherlands, Australia practically excludes access for people with dementia. While there are sustained public calls to change this, it is a complex issue that raises several ethical and practical challenges , including the time at which voluntary assisted dying should be available.
Voluntary assisted dying is now lawful and being accessed across most - and soon, potentially all - of the country. The focus will shift to improving current laws and systems.
These deliberations must be informed by evidence and public consultation. We need to ensure voluntary assisted dying remains safe, but also accessible, to people who are eligible.
We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Katherine Waller to this article.
Ben White has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, Commonwealth and state governments, and philanthropic organisations for research and training about the law, policy and practice relating to end-of-life care. In relation to voluntary assisted dying, he (with colleagues) has been engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. He was appointed as an Expert Legal Advisor to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory for its report on voluntary assisted dying and (with colleagues) developed the accompanying drafting instructions. He was also engaged (with colleagues) to provide a research report to support the Western Australian review of the voluntary assisted dying laws. He is a member of the Tasmanian Panel for the review of the End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Act 2021. He (with Lindy Willmott) developed a model bill for voluntary assisted dying for parliaments to consider. Ben is a recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project number FT190100410: Enhancing End-of-Life Decision-Making: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying) funded by the Australian government. He is also a Chief Investigator on a current Australian Research Council Linkage Project on voluntary assisted dying (partnering with Voluntary Assisted Dying (Review) Boards and/or Departments of Health in five Australian States.
Casey Haining was previously engaged as a legal writer for the Mandatory Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Training. She was also the appointed research fellow for the review of Western Australia's Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019 (WA). She was also previously engaged as a research fellow on the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship project, Enhancing End-of-Life Decision-Making: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying (project number FT190100410).
Katrine Del Villar was part of the team engaged by the Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. She was part of the team engaged by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory to develop drafting instructions for its report on voluntary assisted dying.
Madeleine Archer was part of the team engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. She was part of the team engaged by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory to develop drafting instructions for its report on voluntary assisted dying. Madeleine worked on the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project number FT190100410: Enhancing End-of-Life Decision-Making: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying) funded by the Australian government.
