Coronial Oversight of the Operation of and Access to Voluntary Assisted Dying Regimes.

Abstract

This article considers the role of coroners as a porthole into the content and operation of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) regimes. In their role as investigators of unexplained, unnatural, violent and accidental deaths, coroners are uniquely positioned by legislation to identify abuses and anomalies in VAD deaths. They also have an informed perspective enabling them to identify issues and patterns of deaths among persons who cannot avail themselves of VAD because of how eligibility criteria have been framed. Coroners have an ability too to chronicle the human toll of such ineligibility for persons determined not to satisfy qualifying requirements for access to VAD. This article reviews an important set of findings and comments by the Victorian Coroners Court late in 2024 which addressed the issues and identified other such findings in an attempt to assist reform processes for VAD legislation to be informed by coronial experience. It also notes safety issues highlighted by a strongly worded 2024 decision by the Queensland Coroners Court which is likely also to prompt discussion about VAD processes and the need for controls over unintended access to VAD and other euthanasia medications.