The Victorian Parliament has recently reviewed laws relating to Victorians’ rights and options to make informed decisions regarding their end of life care and choices. The Final Report makes a number of recommendations on the need for greater investment and workforce development in the palliative care sector and improved clarity in advance care planning laws, including the introduction of legislation for advance care directives. The Report further recommends that the Victorian Government introduce an ‘assisted dying’ framework. Read more here .
The Victorian Government has recently released Simplifying medical treatment decision making and advance care planning, a position paper outlining its intention to legislate on advance care directives. The Government proposes to introduce a Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Bill that would provide statutory recognition for a broader range of advance care directives with which a person may refuse or consent to treatment for current or future conditions (in a binding instructional directive) and outline their values (in a values directive). Feedback on the position paper was sought through a consultation process.
The Government has also recently released Victoria’s end of life and palliative care framework which has five priority areas: delivering person-centred services; engaging communities, embracing diversity; coordinating and integrating services; making quality end of life and palliative care everyone’s responsibility; and strengthening specialist palliative care. Read more here.