This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Transport & communications
People who qualify under state or territory voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws could use telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. and other phone or internet services to access that care.
A federal Criminal CodeThe main federal criminal law the bill would amend to create an exception for lawful voluntary assisted dying. offence aimed at pro-suicide online material has left state-authorised voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. effectively blocked from telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. and other phone or internet services. This bill exempts lawful voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. under state and territory laws, letting patients and practitioners use telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. and protecting earlier lawful conduct.
A 2005 federal Criminal CodeThe main federal criminal law the bill would amend to create an exception for lawful voluntary assisted dying. offence was written to stop pro-suicide websites and online bullying, but after every Australian state enacted voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws from 2019 onward it also overrode those schemes by effectively blocking telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person., email and phone use for lawful VADA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life.. The bill introduced on 12 February 2024 responded by carving lawful state and territory VADA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. out of the federal suicide offence and protecting past compliant conduct, but it did not pass and was removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of business scheduled to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is no longer being progressed. on 20 August 2024.
No significant public case against the bill is recorded so far, with no substantial criticism in the debate material beyond the general sensitivity of regulating voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life.. In the recorded material, no party represented in the debate opposed the bill and the cited speakers supported removing the telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. barrier.
Kate Chaney MP introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
190 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
People who qualify under state or territory voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws could use telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. and other phone or internet services to access that care.
Doctors, nurses and other people acting lawfully under state or territory voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws would be exempt from the federal offence about using phone or internet services to encourage suicide.
Health practitioners who already followed state voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws would be protected from federal criminal liabilityThe risk of being charged or punished under federal criminal law for conduct that the bill says should be protected if done lawfully. for earlier conduct as well as future conduct.
The bill would remove a federal barrier that currently blocks state-authorised voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. services from being provided through telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person..
This amendment makes it clear that VAD services are not within the definition of suicide and therefore can be accessed via telehealth according to State VAD laws.Criminal Code Amendment (Telecommunications Offences for Suicide Related Material—Exception for Lawful Voluntary Assisted Dying) explanatory memorandum
Confirms that the offence of using a carriage service to incite committing or attempting to commit suicide (474.29) does not apply to acts or omissions carried out in accordance with State or Territory VAD laws.Criminal Code Amendment (Telecommunications Offences for Suicide Related Material—Exception for Lawful Voluntary Assisted Dying) explanatory memorandum
This amendment applies retrospectively, to ensure VAD practitioners who have acted in accordance with State VAD laws are not guilty of an offence under the Criminal Code Act.Criminal Code Amendment (Telecommunications Offences for Suicide Related Material—Exception for Lawful Voluntary Assisted Dying) explanatory memorandum
The Criminal Code prevails over State VAD laws, effectively prohibiting the use of telehealth to access VAD services.Criminal Code Amendment (Telecommunications Offences for Suicide Related Material—Exception for Lawful Voluntary Assisted Dying) explanatory memorandum
Context
A 2005 federal Criminal CodeThe main federal criminal law the bill would amend to create an exception for lawful voluntary assisted dying. offence was written to stop pro-suicide websites and online bullying, but after every Australian state enacted voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws from 2019 onward it also overrode those schemes by effectively blocking telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person., email and phone use for lawful VADA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life.. The bill introduced on 12 February 2024 responded by carving lawful state and territory VADA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. out of the federal suicide offence and protecting past compliant conduct, but it did not pass and was removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of business scheduled to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is no longer being progressed. on 20 August 2024.
Federal suicide-carriage service offenceThe existing Commonwealth offence that bans using phone or internet services to counsel, promote or instruct suicide, and is the rule this bill would carve VAD out of. is added to the Criminal CodeThe main federal criminal law the bill would amend to create an exception for lawful voluntary assisted dying.
The Commonwealth made it an offence to use phone or internet services to counsel, promote or instruct suicide, targeting pro-suicide websites, chatrooms and cyberbullying.
Second reading speech ↗All Australian states pass voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. laws
As VADA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. became lawful under strict state regimes, the federal Criminal CodeThe main federal criminal law the bill would amend to create an exception for lawful voluntary assisted dying. still prevailed and effectively prohibited telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. and other carriage services for those services.
Explanatory memorandum ↗Bill is introduced to allow telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. for lawful voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life.
The bill was presented to exempt conduct done under state or territory VAD lawsThe local laws that make voluntary assisted dying lawful in each state or territory and set the rules practitioners must follow. from the federal suicide-related telecommunications offenceThe existing Commonwealth offence that bans using phone or internet services to counsel, promote or instruct suicide, and is the rule this bill would carve VAD out of. and to protect earlier lawful conduct as well as future care.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Sponsors say the federal barrier is harming access for dying patients
In the second readingThe stage in Parliament where the bill is debated and members explain whether they support its main idea. debate, supporters said practitioners risked prosecution for using telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person., email, text or phone and that this especially worsened access for people outside capital cities.
Hansard ↗Bill is removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of business scheduled to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is no longer being progressed.
The bill was dropped from the House Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of business scheduled to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is no longer being progressed. under standing order 42A House rule referred to here as the basis for dropping the bill from the Notice Paper., leaving the federal telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. barrier unchanged.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe stage in Parliament where the bill is debated and members explain whether they support its main idea., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second readingThe stage in Parliament where the bill is debated and members explain whether they support its main idea. moved
The scrutiny committee recorded that it considered the bill in Scrutiny Digest 3 of 2024.
Considered
Collected source bundleThe bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
No significant public case against the bill is recorded so far, with no substantial criticism in the debate material beyond the general sensitivity of regulating voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life.. In the recorded material, no party represented in the debate opposed the bill and the cited speakers supported removing the telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. barrier.
No significant public case against the bill is recorded so far.
Votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Chaney supports the bill and says it fixes a simple but serious anomaly that stops doctors and pharmacists using telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. for lawful voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life..
Read in Hansard ↗Ryan says she supports the bill because it would update outdated law so doctors and nurses can use telehealthMedical care delivered by phone, video, email or other online services instead of in person. to provide lawful voluntary assisted dyingA legal process where a person who meets strict rules can get help from a doctor or other practitioner to end their life. care, especially for people in rural and regional areas.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
2 speakers · 2 support
“I commend the Bill to the House.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I second the motion. I'm proud to support this motion. The two most vulnerable moments of our lives are those in which we enter this world and those in which we leave it. When we are vulnerable, we rely on other people's care and kindness, and today I would like to acknowledge and thank the nurses, doctors, pharmacists and social workers who provide end-of-life care in this country.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second readingThe stage in Parliament where the bill is debated and members explain whether they support its main idea. opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second readingThe stage in Parliament where the bill is debated and members explain whether they support its main idea., opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42)
Removed from the Notice PaperThe parliamentary list of business scheduled to be dealt with; if a bill is removed from it, it is no longer being progressed. in accordance with (SO 42)
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
Considered
The scrutiny committee recorded that it considered the bill in Scrutiny Digest 3 of 2024.
Considered by scrutiny committee (28 Feb 2024): Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Scrutiny Digest 3 of 2024
Collected source bundle