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Nancy Flanders
·Spotlight Articles
Guest Column·By Right to Life UK
SHOCK: Western Australia sees 243% jump in euthanasia deaths
(Right to Life UK) Calls have been made for an inquiry into Western Australia’s ‘assisted dying’ laws after the state has seen a 243% increase in cases of euthanasia over a four-year period.
The state has been called the “euthanasia death capital of Australia” after the new annual report, published today, revealedthat 2.9% of deaths are now caused by euthanasia or assisted suicide, the highest proportion for any state in Australia and one of the highest assisted death rates in the world, which, at its fifth full reporting year, is second only to Canada when it was five years into the assisted suicide law operating there.
In the report, the outgoing Chair of the Western Australian Voluntary Assisted Dying Board, Dr Scott Blackwell, acknowledgedthat activity across the assisted death service was “more than 10 times higher than predicted at implementation”.
The data in the report covers the fifth year of the law operating in Western Australia. A review of euthanasia and assisted suicide laws globally, comparing the proportion of assisted deaths at year five of the operation of the laws, shows that the proportion in Western Australia is the second highest in the world at year five.
The data shows that only Canada, widely regarded as having one of the most extreme assisted death laws in the world, had a higher proportion at year five of the operation of its law. The 2.9% of deaths in Western Australia at year five is just behind where Canada was at year five, with 3.2% of all deaths caused by assisted suicide or euthanasia.
The annual report for Western Australia for the year 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 shows there were a total of 541 deaths by euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2025-26, an increase of 182% from 2021-22, when there were 192 such deaths.
Of these, there were 508 cases of euthanasia during this time period, compared with 147 cases for the same time period in 2021-22, the first year the law was in operation. The remaining 33 cases were assisted suicide.
More than a quarter, 333 (26.7%), of patients who made an initial request for assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2025-26 mademore than one First Request.
The report states that multiple requests can occur when a “practitioner refused a patient’s First Request and the patient made a First Request to another medical practitioner”, raising concerns about ‘doctor shopping’.
This data has prompted calls for Western Australia’s Health Minister, Meredith Hammat, to investigate potential doctor shopping as part of an urgent inquiry into Western Australia’s assisted suicide system (see comment at end).
Despite the data showing surging assisted death numbers and issues with the operation of the law in Western Australia, the board overseeing the operation of the law, whose membership includes several people who have previously advocated for the introduction of assisted death laws, has called for the further removal and expansion of the law in Western Australia.
In the 2025–26 annual report, Western Australia’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Board recommended reviewing the existing requirement that patients must be expected to die within six months, or 12 months for neurodegenerative conditions, including consideration of extending or removing these time-to-death limits.
The Board also recommended amending Commonwealth legislation to remove restrictions affecting the provision of assisted suicide and euthanasia services through telehealth and the electronic transmission of prescriptions for lethal substances.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019 specifies a designated waiting period of nine days between the First Request and Final Request.
Since legalisation in July 2021, the statutory nine-day waiting period between a patient’s First Request and Final Request has been waived in 648 cases (26% of Final Requests), allowing patients to make their Final Request before the waiting period had elapsed.
In 2025-26, the proportion of Final Requests made before the end of the nine-day designated waiting period rose to 29.1%, with 227 Final Requests made within the nine-day period, the highest annual proportion since legalisation.
In one case in 2025-26, a patient died by assisted suicide or euthanasia just one day after making their First Request.
At first assessment, almost one in three patients, 32.0%, cited being a burden on family, friends or caregivers, or concern about becoming a burden, as a reason for requesting an assisted death.
Almost three-quarters of patients, 706 (74.8%), cited being less able to engage in activities that made life enjoyable, or concern about this, as a reason for seeking assisted suicide or euthanasia. This was the most commonly reported reason.
A further 557 patients (59.0%) cited losing autonomy, or concern about it, while 539 (57.1%) cited loss of dignity, or concern about it.
Additionally, 39.7% cited inadequate pain control, or concern about it.
Over the course of just a year, the number of applicants for assisted suicide and euthanasia who were not accessing palliative care at the time of their First Assessment increased from 124 in 2024-25 to 167 in 2025-26, an increase of over 34%.
Of these, 154 had not received any palliative care in the preceding 12 months.
Six patients found eligible for assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2025–26 were recorded as speaking English either not at all or not well, while a further 80 were recorded as speaking English well rather than very well.
However, fewer than five eligible patients received assistance from an interpreter during their First Assessment.
Even if all patients who received interpreter assistance were among the six with the lowest English proficiency, at least two of those six patients did not receive interpreter assistance during their First Assessment.
Just nine practitioners were responsible for accepting 578 First Requests for assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2025-26, accounting for 51.6% of all accepted First Requests.
In addition, 21 practitioners accepted a First Request despite not having completed the Western Australian Voluntary Assisted Dying Approved Training at the time of accepting the request. These practitioners also did not complete the training during the reporting period....
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
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Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Nancy Flanders
·
Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·
Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·
Guest Column
Tori Hope Petersen
·
Guest Column
Hector O. Chapa, M.D.
·
Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·
Politics
Right to Life UK
·
Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column·By Right to Life UK
SHOCK: Western Australia sees 243% jump in euthanasia deaths
(Right to Life UK) Calls have been made for an inquiry into Western Australia’s ‘assisted dying’ laws after the state has seen a 243% increase in cases of euthanasia over a four-year period.
The state has been called the “euthanasia death capital of Australia” after the new annual report, published today, revealedthat 2.9% of deaths are now caused by euthanasia or assisted suicide, the highest proportion for any state in Australia and one of the highest assisted death rates in the world, which, at its fifth full reporting year, is second only to Canada when it was five years into the assisted suicide law operating there.
In the report, the outgoing Chair of the Western Australian Voluntary Assisted Dying Board, Dr Scott Blackwell, acknowledgedthat activity across the assisted death service was “more than 10 times higher than predicted at implementation”.
The data in the report covers the fifth year of the law operating in Western Australia. A review of euthanasia and assisted suicide laws globally, comparing the proportion of assisted deaths at year five of the operation of the laws, shows that the proportion in Western Australia is the second highest in the world at year five.
The data shows that only Canada, widely regarded as having one of the most extreme assisted death laws in the world, had a higher proportion at year five of the operation of its law. The 2.9% of deaths in Western Australia at year five is just behind where Canada was at year five, with 3.2% of all deaths caused by assisted suicide or euthanasia.
The annual report for Western Australia for the year 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 shows there were a total of 541 deaths by euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2025-26, an increase of 182% from 2021-22, when there were 192 such deaths.
Of these, there were 508 cases of euthanasia during this time period, compared with 147 cases for the same time period in 2021-22, the first year the law was in operation. The remaining 33 cases were assisted suicide.
More than a quarter, 333 (26.7%), of patients who made an initial request for assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2025-26 mademore than one First Request.
The report states that multiple requests can occur when a “practitioner refused a patient’s First Request and the patient made a First Request to another medical practitioner”, raising concerns about ‘doctor shopping’.
This data has prompted calls for Western Australia’s Health Minister, Meredith Hammat, to investigate potential doctor shopping as part of an urgent inquiry into Western Australia’s assisted suicide system (see comment at end).
Despite the data showing surging assisted death numbers and issues with the operation of the law in Western Australia, the board overseeing the operation of the law, whose membership includes several people who have previously advocated for the introduction of assisted death laws, has called for the further removal and expansion of the law in Western Australia.
In the 2025–26 annual report, Western Australia’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Board recommended reviewing the existing requirement that patients must be expected to die within six months, or 12 months for neurodegenerative conditions, including consideration of extending or removing these time-to-death limits.
The Board also recommended amending Commonwealth legislation to remove restrictions affecting the provision of assisted suicide and euthanasia services through telehealth and the electronic transmission of prescriptions for lethal substances.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019 specifies a designated waiting period of nine days between the First Request and Final Request.
Since legalisation in July 2021, the statutory nine-day waiting period between a patient’s First Request and Final Request has been waived in 648 cases (26% of Final Requests), allowing patients to make their Final Request before the waiting period had elapsed.
In 2025-26, the proportion of Final Requests made before the end of the nine-day designated waiting period rose to 29.1%, with 227 Final Requests made within the nine-day period, the highest annual proportion since legalisation.
In one case in 2025-26, a patient died by assisted suicide or euthanasia just one day after making their First Request.
At first assessment, almost one in three patients, 32.0%, cited being a burden on family, friends or caregivers, or concern about becoming a burden, as a reason for requesting an assisted death.
Almost three-quarters of patients, 706 (74.8%), cited being less able to engage in activities that made life enjoyable, or concern about this, as a reason for seeking assisted suicide or euthanasia. This was the most commonly reported reason.
A further 557 patients (59.0%) cited losing autonomy, or concern about it, while 539 (57.1%) cited loss of dignity, or concern about it.
Additionally, 39.7% cited inadequate pain control, or concern about it.
Over the course of just a year, the number of applicants for assisted suicide and euthanasia who were not accessing palliative care at the time of their First Assessment increased from 124 in 2024-25 to 167 in 2025-26, an increase of over 34%.
Of these, 154 had not received any palliative care in the preceding 12 months.
Six patients found eligible for assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2025–26 were recorded as speaking English either not at all or not well, while a further 80 were recorded as speaking English well rather than very well.
However, fewer than five eligible patients received assistance from an interpreter during their First Assessment.
Even if all patients who received interpreter assistance were among the six with the lowest English proficiency, at least two of those six patients did not receive interpreter assistance during their First Assessment.
Just nine practitioners were responsible for accepting 578 First Requests for assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2025-26, accounting for 51.6% of all accepted First Requests.
In addition, 21 practitioners accepted a First Request despite not having completed the Western Australian Voluntary Assisted Dying Approved Training at the time of accepting the request. These practitioners also did not complete the training during the reporting period....
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Nancy Flanders
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column
Tori Hope Petersen
·Guest Column
Hector O. Chapa, M.D.
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·Human Interest
Right to Life UK
·Politics
Right to Life UK
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·