ACT Euthanasia Pace Set for World Record
No terminal-time rule and no mandated waits; 57 deaths by June 2026 occurred under a law allowing rapid access, about triple Canada’s one-year rate.
The Australian Capital Territory legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia on November 3, 2025. By June 30, 2026, 57 people had died under the scheme, according to its first oversight report — placing the territory on track for the world’s highest share of assisted deaths at the one-year mark, roughly three times Canada’s rate.
The law requires neither a prognosis of death within a set timeframe nor mandated waiting periods between steps. In theory a person could request and receive death within a day; at least one person died two days after the initial request.
Expanding Eligibility and Official Praise
The Legislative Assembly later approved, 16–7, a motion urging the government to permit euthanasia for people who have lost capacity but hold an "advance request" for assisted suicide.
Health Minister Dr. Marisa Paterson stated, "I am so proud of our Voluntary Assisted Dying scheme. In its first year of operation, more than 50 Canberrans have been able to end their lives with dignity and autonomy, at the right time for them." She called the ACT model the most progressive in Australia, citing the absence of a specific timeframe to death, no mandated wait times, the authority of nurse practitioners to act as authorized practitioners and conduct assessments, and offenses for facilities that block access. A review is scheduled for 2028 to "improve the operation of the scheme" with community feedback.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Oversight Board is chaired by Darlene Cox. She previously signed submissions arguing that eligibility should "prioritize access over safeguards" and urged a more expansive law; she has described assisted suicide as the "ultimate demonstration of consumer empowerment."
Remaining Barrier: Telehealth
Advocates are now pressing to lift restrictions on telehealth-assisted suicide. Attorney General Tara Cheyne said, "The one major barrier that remains is not of the ACT’s making. Commonwealth criminal law still stops practitioners from discussing voluntary assisted dying by phone or video, and that falls hardest on people who are too unwell to travel to an appointment. The ACT Government will keep pressing the Australian Parliament until it is fixed."
The Catholic Church teaches that deliberately ending innocent human life, including through euthanasia or assisted suicide, is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the fifth commandment. The ACT figures and the push to remove remaining safeguards illustrate how quickly such laws expand once the principle that life may be intentionally ended is accepted.