Victoria's 'assisted dying' program overloaded, yet leaders push for more deaths

The state of Victoria, Australia has seen such an increase in requests for assisted suicide, it is struggling to keep up with the demand.

Key Takeaways:

• In 2017, Victoria became the first state in Australia to legalize assisted suicide.

• In just a few years, there had been an increase in all suicides, most particularly among the elderly, where suicide rates rose by over 40%.

• By 2025, the Victorian government announced plans to remove safeguards surrounding assisted suicide.

• There is now so much demand that doctors who commit assisted suicide are struggling to keep up, yet leaders want to ensure that death requests are processed more quickly.

The Backstory:

In 2017, Victoria legalized assisted suicide, and almost immediately, the number of deaths from it surpassed what had been predicted. Just one year after legalization, there were 231 permits issued, and 124 deaths.

When working towards legalizing assisted suicide, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrew had predicted just one dozen deaths; Victoria's Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos, had predicted around 150 people would choose assisted suicide each year — but not in the first year, when she likewise predicted small numbers of deaths.

“Half of those who applied for lethal drugs made their final request for euthanasia less than three weeks after they first requested it,” Branka van der Linden, director of the anti-euthanasia organization HOPE Australia, said at the time. “That’s not a lot of time for reflection, for alternative options to be offered and explored, or for the necessary support to be provided.”

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning. Assisted suicide deaths continued to skyrocket, and by 2022, there had been an increase in all suicides, particularly among the elderly. Despite this, legislators are looking to remove safeguards from the program, less than 10 years after legalization.

The Details:

Now, there are so many people seeking to undergo assisted suicide that the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board is warning that the current system is unsustainable. In the last fiscal year, over 800 people applied to be killed, and it is expected that the number could rise to over 1,300 by 2028.

The board, however, is not concerned that too many people are being killed. They are concerned that there are not enough.

“Victoria will need to adjust the way it supports the system through which VAD requests proceed," Paula Shelton, deputy chair of the board, said in the report, adding:

The Board remains concerned about the significant proportion of individuals who request VAD but die before they can access it. Several factors may contribute to this. Many people may underestimate the complexity and duration of the VAD process.

They may expect to receive a prescription shortly after consulting their doctor. A coronial finding during the year also drew attention to several instances where a person took their own life after being found ineligible for VAD or believed that they would be.

Legislators now want doctors to be able to approach their patients to suggest assisted dying, rather than waiting for patients to request death — and in general, to make it easier for Victorians to be killed.

The Bottom Line:

That so many people are vying to end their lives should be a troubling sign that assisted suicide is a problem and is encouraging suicidal ideation.

Instead, Victorians are looking to make it even more commonplace and easily accessible — which will only serve to make abuses that much more likely.