Matters of Interest: Voluntary Assisted Dying
The Hon. H.J. GUMBYS (16:01): I would like to talk about a subject I briefly touched on in my maiden speech yesterday, and that is my late father-in-law, Gerard Versteeg, or Gerry Versteeg in English. I met him when I was 16. He was a gentleman and a gentle man, but he certainly had me sorted out early. The first time I met him, he arranged for me to move a piano so as to ascertain the appropriateness of his future son-in-law.
What I did not know about him at the time was that he was a cornerstone of the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society for many years. He was a Dutchman and he brought with him direct access to the world's most established assisted dying framework, which he translated from Dutch into English.
I was a very unsophisticated 16 year old and at the time when my then girlfriend was explaining voluntary euthanasia to me I thought it was young people doing good things in the Orient and it took a while for me to realise that it was one of the more important aspects and one of the more important choices that we should have as human beings, all in the name of compassion.
Today, South Australians are being afforded the dignity and self-determination they deserve, at a time when control is often a rarity. During the five-month commencement period from January to June 2023 when voluntary assisted dying first became accessible, 116 South Australians made a valid first request. By the 2023-24 reporting year, that figure had risen to 404, and by the 2024-25 reporting year, it had reached 579. In roughly two years of operation, first requests have increased nearly fivefold; however, the numbers that warrant the most careful consideration are the completions.
During the commencement period, approximately 38.8 per cent of those who made a first request ultimately died through administration of the voluntary assisted dying drug. By 2024-25, that figure had risen to just over 60 per cent and this reflects the practitioners becoming increasingly familiar with the legislation, the pathways becoming better understood, and coordination between clinicians and SA Health improving.
In short, it reflects a system that is maturing. The demographics have remained remarkably consistent across all reporting periods. Most participants were over 60 and most were already receiving palliative care. These are the people parliament contemplated when it debated this legislation, and the data suggests that the safeguards are functioning as intended.
Equally important is what the statistics reveal about attrition. Across every reporting period, a significant proportion of people who entered the pathway did not complete it—not because they were turned away but because they died before a permit could be issued or they lost decision-making capacity, or, significantly, chose to withdraw. This is about choice. In 2024-25, 96 people died before a permit could be issued. These were people who sought access to a choice but ran out of time before the process could be concluded.
I understand that some individuals have concerns about this very serious choice. However, I reassure them that the system is deliberately very rigorous and, with 70 individual safeguards, it is one of the most carefully constructed in the world to ensure that voluntary assisted dying is the right choice for each patient. Thanks to this government and the many advocates for voluntary assisted dying, and individuals like my late father-in-law, Gerard Versteeg, the early evidence suggests that our framework is working.