Australia: Euthanasia

Issues by state & country

Persons assisting an assisted suicide or euthanasia can have an agenda. Media examples include: financial gain; the "thrill" of getting other people to kill themselves; and the occasional doctor who just likes to kill people.

The Victoria Act has no required supervision over administration of the lethal dose. "Even if a patient struggled, who would know?"

Doctors and other participants in a patient’s death are required to act in "accordance" with the Act, a term that is undefined.

Dictionary definitions of accordance include "in the spirit of," meaning "in thought or intention." With these definitions, the Act merely requires that a participant have a thought or intention to comply with its terms, thereby rendering purported Act safeguards unenforceable.

Per the Act, the official cause of death is a "disease, illness or medical condition," which thereby prevents prosecution for murder.