Northern Territory to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill patients

The Northern Territory (NT) parliament on Thursday evening voted to pass legislation that will legalise voluntary euthanasia from early 2028, making the NT the eighth and final jurisdiction in the country to legalise euthanasia.

Under the law, anyone over the age of 18 suffering from an advanced medical condition expected to cause death within 12 months will be able to choose euthanasia.

This means voluntary assisted dying for terminally ill patients will be legal across all of Australia from 2028, with the seven other states and territories having legalised the practice since 2017.

The NT law will prohibit health practitioners from raising the topic of voluntary assisted dying with patients, but will require officials to provide government-approved information to patients who ask.

Each case will be assessed by two independent doctors trained in voluntary assisted dying and overseen by a review board before a patient is permitted to proceed with euthanasia.

The NT was previously the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise voluntary assisted dying in 1995, but that law was overturned in 1997 when the federal government barred the NT and the Australian Capital Territory from making euthanasia-related laws.

That ban was lifted in 2022.