AMA NT urges CLP government to listen to Territorians: Support VAD and crucial amendments
The Australian Medical Association Northern Territory (AMA NT) is urgently calling on the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government to heed the voices of Territorians and the medical community by fully supporting Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) legislation.
The Australian Medical Association Northern Territory (AMA NT) is urgently calling on the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government to heed the voices of Territorians and the medical community by fully supporting Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) legislation.
Crucially, the AMA NT is calling for parliamentary support for essential amendments to the proposed framework, specifically the removal of the restrictive 'gag clause' and the arbitrary 12-month terminal prognostication requirement.
The AMA NT warns that failing to pass these amendments will result in a compromised framework that hinders doctors from providing comprehensive care and leaves suffering patients without access to compassionate end-of-life choices.
“The people of the Northern Territory, along with the medical professionals who care for them, have made their position clear,” said Dr John Zorbas, President of the AMA NT.
“It is time for the CLP government to listen. Territorians deserve compassionate end-of-life choices, and our doctors need a legislative framework that empowers them to provide the best possible care without undue interference.”
Dr Zorbas highlighted the dangers of the barriers in the proposed legislation, pointing specifically to the gag clause, which prohibits health practitioners from initiating conversations about VAD with their patients.
“The 'gag clause' fundamentally undermines the doctor-patient relationship,” Dr Zorbas said.
“It prevents doctors from informing patients of all their legally available medical options. Patients rely on their doctors for complete, transparent information to provide informed consent. Legislating what a doctor can and cannot discuss when a patient is facing the end of their life is an unacceptable intrusion into clinical practice.”
Furthermore, the AMA NT is calling for the removal of the 12-month terminal prognostication requirement, arguing that it fails to reflect the clinical realities of end-of-life care.
“A strict 12-month terminal prognosis requirement is clinically arbitrary and effectively unworkable in many medical scenarios,” Dr Zorbas said.
“It will inevitably lock out patients whose specific disease trajectory is difficult to predict with exact certainty, but who will continue to experience intolerable suffering. We need legislation grounded in compassion, clinical reality, and the alleviation of suffering, not rigid timelines that ignore the complexities of terminal illness.”
The AMA NT stands ready to work cooperatively with the CLP government to ensure the Northern Territory delivers a VAD framework that is safe, accessible, and thoroughly respects the autonomy of both patients and medical practitioners. The association urges all Members of the Legislative Assembly to support these critical amendments.
Contact: AMA NT amant@amant.com.au
