Euthanasia deaths are up 400% over five years in Victoria as the state prepares to expand access to its “voluntary assisted dying” program, including for temporary migrants.
According to the latest annual report from the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board, 140 people had their lives ended by doctors in the 2025-26 financial year, up from 88 the previous year. Another 372 died by “self-administration of a VAD substance”.
Voluntary assisted dying accounted for 1.1% of all deaths in Victoria during the 12-month period, about four times higher than in the first year of operation in 2019-20, the report stated.
Euthanasia deaths are expected to increase again when controversial amendments passed by state parliament late last year come into effect in 2027.
The changes will allow health practitioners to initiate discussions about VAD with patients, will extend the current prognosis of six months to live to 12 months, will reduce cooling off periods, and will allow applicants to choose whether to be euthanised by doctors or die by assisted suicide.
The amendments also remove the need for third party assessments for applicants with neurodegenerative conditions, require health practitioners who conscientiously object to provide referral information, allow nurses to carry out VAD procedures, and remove a requirement that applicants be Australian citizens or permanent residents.
The report also noted that “the number of [VAD] requests from culturally and linguistically diverse Victorians remains much lower than expected”, with those who speak a language other than English at home making up just 7% of applications despite being 33% of the state’s population.
“This suggests that more needs to be done to share information about VAD more equitably across our population, particularly with those who do not speak English at home,” the report stated.
The report comes amid growing concerns over Canada’s similar Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, after it was revealed more people were killed by the Canadian government in 2024 than by gun homicides in the United States, the vast majority of them White.
Last month the family of an 83-year-old woman who was killed by the MAID program in July spoke out and alleged she was euthanised against her will.
MAID was launched in 2016 for people whose deaths were “reasonably foreseeable”, but was expanded in 2021 to make those with chronic diseases and other physical conditions eligible, and advocates now want people suffering only from mental health issues to be included.
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