Criminal Code Amendment (Equal Access to Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2026

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia—Manager of Australian Greens Business in the Senate) (11:49): I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill. Leave granted.

Senator HANSON-YOUNG: I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have my second reading speech—which is very good, by the way—incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speech read as follows— I rise today to introduce the Criminal Code Amendment (Equal Access to Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2026.

All Australians deserve access to high quality healthcare, and to be treated with dignity, regardless of their postcode. Every Australian deserves to be treated equally under the law, regardless of where they live. Sadly, right now equal access and choice to end of life care and medical assistance is not a reality for many terminally ill Australians, particularly those living in rural and remote areas.

This Bill seeks to address current laws that block many Australians from having access and choice over their end of life care simply because they need to use the phone to speak to their doctor. This means a number of Australian citizens are suffering unnecessarily, and left in pain longer, because they are blocked from accessing the medical care they wish to choose.

Within the Criminal Code, it is an offence to counsel, or incite suicide, via carriage service provider. This change to the legislation was made with good intent. It was meant to protect vulnerable people from pro-suicide websites, minimise the harm of cyberbullying and make the internet a safer place for all.

What it did not intend to do was prevent health professionals, acting in the best interest and choices of their patients, from using telehealth in the process of voluntary assisted dying. What it did not intend to do was override the state and territories' right to legislate on the very matters they are responsible for dealing with. Yet, this is exactly the effect that the current Criminal Code has.

Let me be clear—this amendment is not a debate on the ethics of voluntary assisted dying. That is a matter for the states and territories. Voluntary assisted dying is legal across Australia and the state and territories have the responsibility to make sure that the appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that when VAD does happen, it is carried out with the strict safeguards, informed consent, and in line with their jurisdiction's legal requirements.

The safeguards in place are working. This Bill does not seek to make changes to the existing safeguards that are in place in each state and territory to ensure that a person makes a free, informed choice, has decision-making capacity, and faces no pressure or coercion from others What this amendment does debate is why the Criminal Code continues to be so outdated, that when health professionals engage in actions and activities that are part of their duty of care, they could be declared a criminal.

This is ridiculous and must be changed. Beyond this part of the Code seriously compromising the laws of our states and territories, it also significantly limits access to what is fundamentally a medical procedure. By outright banning the use of telehealth for VAD, it creates a two-class medical system.

Someone whose physical health is declining so much that you can no longer physically go to the clinic or hospital? You can't access this care. Someone who's living in a rural, remote, or regional area, who has to take a three-hour car ride to the nearest doctor?

You can't access this care. Meanwhile, those who live in inner city areas can access a fundamentally different level of medical care. This Bill is a matter of health equity, through a small and minor amendment to a part of the criminal code that we know is deeply outdated and not fit for purpose.

This should not be controversial; it is common sense. I implore all my parliamentary colleagues, from across the Chamber, of all parties to act with compassion, empathy and care. It is time to fix what is a fundamentally unfair, unjust and cruel law, and allow all Australians to have a choice for their end of life care.

It is time to give all those whose pain and suffering is already robbing them of a quality of life, the freedom to choose how they wish to spend their last days, with their loved ones, making memories. Not forcing people to endure even more unnecessary pain because a law that was never intended to cause harm and suffering is stopping a patient speaking to their doctor.

Every Australian deserves dignity in their final days, regardless of where they live. This Parliament has the chance to relieve some of that suffering and it is cruel and inhumane not to. Senator HANSON-YOUNG: I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.