FACT: The Government Bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying in WA is being drafted in consultation with a panel of experts appointed to provide advice to government on a safe and compassionate framework for the legislation. Over a third of the panellists are palliative care specialists.

In the Deputy Premier and Minister for Health’s media statement released Monday 12 November 2018, it states:

“The Bill will be drafted in consultation with a panel of experts to provide advice to government on a safe and compassionate framework for voluntary assisted dying in Western Australia.

The expert panel will be chaired by Malcolm McCusker QC, former Governor of Western Australia, and will report to the Minister for Health. The panel of 11 members is comprised of leading health professionals, health consumers and legal experts.”

The expert panel includes:

• Dr Penny Flett AO - Retired medical practitioner. Former CEO of Brightwater and former chairperson of the WA Aged Care Advisory Council.
• Dr Scott Blackwell - General practitioner with expertise in palliative care and aged care. Former president of the AMA. Life member of RACGPs.
• Dr Roger Hunt - Senior consultant, Central Adelaide Palliative Care. Academic who is widely published in the areas of ethics, law and palliative care.
• Associate Professor Kirsten Auret - Associate Professor of rural and remote medicine and deputy director, Rural Clinical School of WA. Palliative care specialist and Adjunct Professor of Curtin University and Notre Dame University.
• Dr Elissa Campbell - President of Palliative Care WA, consultant geriatrician and palliative care specialist.

The full media statement can be found here.