Interface between voluntary assisted dying and palliative care in Australia: what evidence do we need to inform policy and practice?

Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has been legalised and is now in operation in all Australian states. The Federal Parliament has also passed laws that allow the two territories to legislate on VAD. Amid growing momentum around VAD in Australia and globally, the interface between VAD and palliative care has attracted debate. Whilst some support VAD as an integral element of the palliative care system, others see VAD as contradictory to palliative care goals, arguing that it would ‘compromise the ethos of palliative care, and thus must be kept distinct’.

The nature and scope of such an interface are critical and significantly impact patients' decision-making and access to appropriate services. VAD decision-making processes, as well as access to palliative care, are also influenced by complex sociocultural, family, religious and economic contexts within which the patient lives...