Honours Student, Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide.
Lecturer, Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide.
J Law Med. 2024 Jun;31(2):343-352.
South Australia's Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 commenced operation on 31 January 2023. However, ss 474.29A and 474.29B of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) prohibit the use of "carriage services" to promote or provide instructions about suicide and may impede access to voluntary assisted dying (VAD). Attempts to clarify whether VAD is suicide have been unsuccessful and doctors risk prosecution if they use telehealth to participate in VAD. This article examines specific steps in the VAD pathway that are likely to breach the federal law. Although there have been attempts to clarify what information can permissibly be discussed using a carriage service, doctors risk breaching the federal law at multiple stages of the VAD process. This article concludes arguing that this conflict of laws must be resolved and calls upon the Commonwealth Government to amend the Criminal Code to exclude VAD from the definition of suicide.
南澳大利亚自愿协助死亡法案 2021 于 2023 年 1 月 31 日开始实施。然而，1995 年《刑法典法案》（联邦）第 474.29A 和 474.29B 条禁止“运输服务”用于宣传或提供自杀指导，这可能会阻碍人们获得自愿协助死亡（VAD）。澄清 VAD 是否为自杀的尝试都没有成功，如果医生使用远程医疗参与 VAD，他们可能会面临起诉。本文研究了 VAD 途径中可能违反联邦法律的具体步骤。尽管有人试图澄清使用运输服务可以讨论哪些信息，但医生在 VAD 过程的多个阶段都有可能违反联邦法律。本文得出结论，必须解决这种法律冲突，并呼吁联邦政府修订《刑法典》，将 VAD 排除在自杀定义之外。
