A Labor backbencher will hold off on moving amendments to voluntary assisted dying legislation which would allow people to access assisted death after losing decision-making capacity.
Marisa Paterson said last month she was considering amendments to address a gap in cases where a person has gone through all the approval stages for voluntary assisted dying but lost capacity before ending their life.
This would only be open to someone who meets the eligibility. Under the proposal, a person could elect someone to act as their voluntary assisted dying attorney and carry out their wishes.
But Dr Paterson said she would not move the amendments ahead of the bill being debated this week.
She sought community feedback on the amendments over a two-week period but ultimately decided there was not enough time to work through possible issues.
"The consultation process was incredibly positive, with significant engagement around the issue," Dr Paterson said.
"What was very clear was the overarching support to address the issue of access to VAD following loss of capacity, however, there was concerns raised over the short timeframe of consultation and issues identified that still need to be worked through."
Dr Paterson's decision should pave the way for voluntary assisted dying laws to pass the territory's parliament this week relatively smoothly.
Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne is set to move a range of technical amendments to the legislation but no other Labor or Greens member will move any amendments.
Labor and Liberal members have a conscience vote on the matter and are free to put up any amendments.
In other jurisdictions, this has resulted in lengthy debates and last-minute changes to the proposed voluntary assisted dying model but the territory appears set to avoid this.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, deputy opposition leader Leanne Castley and Liberal member for Murrumbidgee Ed Cocks will also move amendments.
All Labor and Greens members will vote in favour of voluntary assisted dying. Liberal members Mr Cocks, Jeremy Hanson, Elizabeth Kikkert, James Milligan and Peter Cain will all vote against the legislation.
While Dr Paterson won't move her amendments, she will move a motion on Thursday afternoon calling on the ACT government to address the issue around loss of capacity and create a model for the territory.
"There is a gap in all Australian VAD legislation to date when an individual has gone through all the requests and approval stages to access VAD, and then they lose capacity," she said.
"What has been really clear through this process over the last couple of weeks, is that the ACT is ready to explore how to address this issue".
Debate on voluntary assisted dying is expected to begin on Tuesday and continue into Wednesday.
