The Federal AMA has written to the Attorney General warning that patients with serious life-limiting illnesses, particularly those in regional and rural areas, are being disadvantaged by laws preventing doctors using telehealth to discuss voluntary assisted dying (VAD).
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen’s letter to Attorney General Michelle Rowland, calls for urgent amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1995 specifically sections 474.29A and 474.29B, due to their potential to negatively impact on the provision of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) services, where legal, throughout Australia.
Sections 474.29A and 474.29B, which were passed before VAD was legalised in Australia, make it an offence to use a ‘carriage service’ (such as a telephone, videoconference, email or other forms of electronic communication) to publish or distribute material that counsels or incites committing or attempting to commit suicide.
These laws have the unintended but very real consequence of undermining access to VAD services by prohibiting doctors and other healthcare practitioners from using telehealth to discuss with patients the delivery or administration of VAD services. This is despite the fact that VAD is now legal in every Australian state and the ACT while the Northern Territory government has announced it will introduce a draft bill to parliament in early 2026. A recent review of telehealth use in VAD globally shows Australia is the only country that criminalises the use of telehealth for the provision of legally available VAD services.
The most recent State of VAD Report undertaken by Go Gentle Australia indicates the impact of the Criminal Code’s prohibition on using telehealth for VAD consultations means:
- health professionals repeatedly make trips of 1000+kms to visit patients
- nurses, care navigators and pharmacists must limit the follow-up support they offer as phone calls or emails to patients and families can be in breach of the law
- scripts for VAD medications have to be posted, couriered or hand-delivered.
The AMA strongly advocates that telehealth should be available as an adjunct to usual medical practice, where telehealth services serve to supplement, and not replace, clinically necessary physical attendances. Telehealth is considered an essential part of modern, high-quality care, enabling doctors to provide healthcare services to their patients when it is not physically feasible, necessary, or appropriate for the patient to attend the practice in person. This includes the use of telehealth for VAD consultations in circumstances where patients are simply unable to attend face-to-face consultations due to limited access to medical services or inability to travel due to sickness. In such situations, VAD consultations can be undertaken via telehealth in accordance with appropriate regulations, consistent with professional standards and good medical practice.
