"It is absolutely resolved in the affirmative ... a bit of history made just then."
ACT Legislative Assembly Speaker Joy Burch made this remark at about 12.15pm on Wednesday as a bill passed to legalise voluntary assisted dying.
It was a long time coming. More than 25 million Australians are already able to access voluntary assisted dying but the ACT had been banned from legislating on the matter for 25 years.
Over a quarter of a century, territory politicians and advocates watched with frustration as each state passed assisted dying laws.
It did mean the ACT could rely on legislation in other states to develop its bill but the territory went further and is planning to explore if it can go even further, which has caused controversy in some circles.
'Ready to go'
The states could pass voluntary assisted dying laws as they were not encumbered by the same ban implemented on the ACT and the Northern Territory.
The Federal Parliament exercised this control over the territories after the Northern Territory passed voluntary assisted dying laws in 1995. It was the first place in the world to do so. The Commonwealth's ban could only be applied to the territories, not the states.
But even as states passed laws there was hesitance from the Federal Parliament to overturn the ban, which came into place in 1997. The Senate came close to renewing territory rights in 2018 but the bill was defeated by two votes.
Two days before the 2022 federal election, NSW became the last state to pass voluntary assisted dying laws.
On the campaign trail, the then-prime minister Scott Morrison was asked about the NSW legislation and whether his government would extend the same right to the territories.
"[It's] not our policy," Mr Morrison said.
"There are differences between territories and states and that is under our constitution and we're not proposing any changes."
But Labor had previously promised to facilitate a vote on territory rights if it won. Labor did win the election and on December 1, 2022 the Senate voted to overturn the ban.
It took another 18 months for the territory government to pass voluntary assisted dying as a rigorous consultation, bill drafting and inquiry process had to be followed.
But work was happening behind the scenes prior to the 2022 Senate vote.
Following the election of a federal Labor government, ACT Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne was quietly confident the territory's ban on legislating on the matter would be quickly overturned.
In June 2022 she began work on a discussion paper to be used in consultation for voluntary assisted dying. It was largely finished by August.
"I was optimistic that it would pass the Senate quickly. It did not, but December I can take," Ms Cheyne said.
"I wanted to be ready to go. It was a strange situation to be in. To be ready but maybe it will fail.
"But I knew Canberrans would expect us to start immediately."
While the consultation paper was ready Ms Cheyne was unable to release it the day after the ban was overturned as it had to go through the cabinet process.
Consultation began in February and by October a bill had been written and was introduced to the Legislative Assembly. It will be available in the ACT from November 3, 2025.
The laws
Being the second-last Australian jurisdiction to pass laws, not including the 1995 bill from the Northern Territory, the ACT was able to rely on laws from the states during the development of the bill.
Like other states, voluntary assisted dying is only allowed for people who are terminally ill and their condition is "advanced and progressive".
Two health practitioners have to determine a person's eligibility and the person who is seeking voluntary assisted dying must prove decision-making capacity and make repeated requests for it.
But the territory was also prepared to go further.
It's the first jurisdiction to pass laws that don't require an expected timeframe to death. Other states laws stipulate a person's life expectancy must be either six or 12 months.
An explanatory statement for the bill said this was restrictive and arbitrary as health professionals may assess life expectancy differently.
"Timeframe to death requirements can operate arbitrarily, in that there may be very little to distinguish between the intolerable suffering of a person who is expected to die within the specified time limit and those with similar conditions whose prognosis is slightly longer," the statement said.
The ACT will also allow a nurse practitioner to be one of the two health professionals to assess a person's eligibility for voluntary assisted dying.
Go Gentle chief executive Linda Swan said the ACT's legislation was the best in the country. She said the territory's legislation was built on the back of legislation of all states that came before but had gone further.
"The most person-centred legislation. It's legislation that's designed with the person in mind," she said.
The ACT had toyed with the idea of allowing teenagers with decision-making capacity the ability to access voluntary assisted dying but ultimately decided against this. However, this will be explored in a review three years after the legislation takes effect.
Advanced care directives and whether interstate people can access the ACT's scheme will also be considered in the review.
The territory government will also explore a model for those who lose capacity in the later stages of the process.
This was brought forward by Labor backbencher Marisa Paterson, who said there was a gap for those who lost capacity after going through the voluntary assisted dying assessments.
She proposed allowing a "voluntary assisted dying attorney" to be appointed who would carry out the wishes of a person. Dr Paterson did not move amendments to the legislation but the government will explore whether a model can be determined and will deliver a report mid next year.
These future reviews indicate a sign of things to come, Liberal member for Murrumbidgee Jeremy Hanson said this week. Mr Hanson voted against the legislation.
"The agenda of this government, the roadmap of this government, the ideology of this government is to roll out further iterations of this should this government be re-elected," he said.
"This government, these members, these ministers have made it clear their agenda is the euthanasia of children, the euthanasia of dementia patients and is to open this up to everybody interstate."
Mr Hanson was one of five members who voted against voluntary assisted dying. Liberal MLAs James Milligan, Peter Cain, Elizabeth Kikkert and Ed Cocks also voted against it.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee also expressed concern at future reviews and sought to change the legislation so the review was not prescriptive.
'The people who have died waiting'
As states passed voluntary assisted dying laws over the past seven years, they all had something in common. It was marked by long debates with many amendments put up but several politicians.
There were times when it was unclear whether respective states would pass such laws as political parties were much more divided on the matter.
The ACT was different, though. The only amendments that were made were those from the government. Only three opposition members moved amendments, all were unsuccessful.
Not including the in-principle stage, it took only two days to pass the ACT's bill.
"The debate was unremarkable and that's what made it remarkable," Ms Cheyne said.
When the bill passed the territory's parliament, Ms Cheyne was flooded with emotions.
"Many emotions. So proud, happy, disbelieving. It's very weird to work for something so long that you dream of a day and you're not sure if it'll ever come and then it does come," she said.
"I feel sad for the people who have died waiting and wanting and I feel sad for the people who will die over the next 17 months.
"The dominant emotion is gratitude."
Ms Cheyne gave a 36-minute speech to the Assembly in the debate closing stage. She thanked countless people but it was her acknowledgement of those who died, who were unable to access voluntary assisted dying which were among the most poignant.
One of those watching Ms Cheyne's speech was Jacky Ryles, whose closest friend Ros Williams took her own life last year in the later stages of motor neurone disease. Ms Williams was named in the speech.
"She made me promise, one of the last conversations we had, that I would fight on until this day came and I stand here very proudly representing her, her family and all those people we failed," Ms Ryles said.
"The sad thing was that her family couldn't be with her on the day that she chose to die.
"I think one of the best benefits from VAD is that people will be able to make plans. They can say their goodbyes, they can hold hands. They can say the words that need to be said without fear and not be left to die alone."
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; National Elder Abuse 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374).
