Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:28): (1312) My question is for the Minister for Ageing, Minister Stitt. Recent reporting outlines that terminally ill residents in aged care are being denied access to information on voluntary assisted dying options. This is alarming considering voluntary assisted dying was made legal in Victoria in 2019 and providers are required by law federally to provide access to this information. Additionally, a new report by Go Gentle Australia reveals that many Australian aged care providers are failing to support their residents’ end-of-life choices. My question is: what steps is the government taking to ensure that aged care providers in Victoria legally provide patients with information on voluntary assisted dying?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Government Services, Special Minister of State, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria) (12:29): I thank Ms Payne for her important question. At the outset I do want to note that under the general order the VAD legislation is the responsibility of Minister Shing as the health minister, but I am happy to talk about specifically the aged care elements of your question.

Obviously it is incredibly important that all aged care providers uphold residents’ rights and their preferences, and if they seek access to information regarding voluntary assisted dying rights here in Victoria – and I think this actually came up a little bit in the debate both in the Legislative Assembly and in this place during the recent amendments to the VAD legislation – the Department of Health has published guidance for aged care providers which makes it very clear that providers should not obstruct or unnecessarily delay a person’s access to VAD.

The guidance also sets out expectations that providers consider voluntary assisted dying as part of their end-of-life care planning and make their policies available to residents and prospective residents. Where a provider is unable to provide that information, there is an expectation under that guidance that the individual resident is referred to the VAD navigators, which – as you would be familiar with – is a statewide program. In terms of our public sector aged care facilities, all public sector residential aged care services are required to have policies and pathways in place that are about supporting best practice and that are not obstructing anyone’s access to voluntary assisted dying.

 Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:31): I thank the minister for her response, noting that I was also a little confused as to portfolios. But focusing specifically on the providers, despite Victoria having the first voluntary assisted dying laws our aged care sector is the worst in the country at providing information, with 90 per cent of them providing no information about voluntary assisted dying policies. Despite being the first, we are in fact the worst. So by way of supplementary: how is the government going to improve the current oversight of aged care facilities to ensure they respect the rights of their residents to access voluntary assisted dying in their homes?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Government Services, Special Minister of State, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria) (12:31): I thank Ms Payne for her supplementary question. I think we actually went to these exact issues during the VAD debate, and at the time the then health minister indicated that she would work with –

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Ingrid STITT: Sorry, the former minister Mary-Anne Thomas indicated that she would continue to work with me as ageing minister and the department to make sure that what I have just outlined is actually happening on the ground. I am sure that I will be able to have the same conversations with the new minister, Minister Shing, as we make sure that the dignity and the rights of our aged care residents are front of mind when it comes to what we expect particularly our public sector aged care providers to be across to be able to provide that critical information to residents that request it.