Dying with Dignity NSW

03/11/2026

WE ARE CALLING on NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW Minister for Health and Minister for Regional Health, Ryan Park, to stop the takeover of publicly funded hospitals by Calvary Health Care, a Catholic healthcare provider.
We are deeply concerned that access to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) will be restricted. Calvary's anti-VAD policy means terminally ill patients in these hospitals will be forced to transfer elsewhere to access a legal end-of-life choice. The takeover will also affect access to IVF and other reproductive healthcare services.
The proposed takeover was announced in September but the transfer will happen at the end of this month, leaving far too little time for meaningful public consultation before submissions closed last night. Decisions that could affect access to essential healthcare services for thousands of people deserve proper public scrutiny.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to make a submission and share their concerns.
The affected hospitals in NSW include: Norwest Private Hospital (Bella Vista), Lady Davidson Private Hospital (North Turramurra), The Hills Private Hospital (Baulkham Hills), The Sydney Clinic (Bronte), Newcastle Private Hospital (New Lambton Heights), and Hunter Valley Private Hospital (Shortland).

02/11/2026

THERE'S STILL TIME. Please take a moment to have your say. Medical care should be accessible for all Australians. Religion should not determine what end-of-life care you can access when hospitalised. The deadline is midnight tonight.

🚨 URGENT: Have Your Say Before Midnight Tuesday 3 November 🚨

Access to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) is at risk in NSW.

The NSW Government plans to transfer the operation of four private hospitals in Sydney and Newcastle to Calvary Healthcare, a Catholic healthcare provider that does not offer VAD.

This proposed change could significantly reduce access to VAD for eligible patients and their families.
Despite the significant impact on local communities, there has been very little public awareness or consultation.

📢 We urgently need your help.

The NSW Government is accepting community feedback on these proposed hospital transfers, but consultation closes at MIDNIGHT on Tuesday 3 November.

⏰ There is very little time left to act. It only takes a few minutes to make a submission.

📢 Ready to take action?

The links to all four consultation pages are in the comments below. 👇

28/10/2026

AN HISTORIC STEP FORWARD for choice, dignity and sustainability.
NSW Parliament has unanimously passed legislation to introduce terramation, giving people a third option for what happens to their body after death, alongside burial and cremation.
Terramation is a natural process that transforms human remains into nutrient rich soil in as little as six to eight weeks. Already available in 14 US states and Germany, it offers a meaningful way for people to honour their loved ones and connect with the environment.
Families can be involved in the process, visit during the transformation and use the resulting soil to plant trees or support conservation projects.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich introduced the bill in June this year after researching terramation internationally, including visiting facilities in Seattle and Hamburg to see the process firsthand.
We congratulate Alex Greenwich and Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst, who took carriage of the Public Health Amendment (Terramation) Bill 2026 through the Legislative Council earlier this week, on their leadership and commitment to expanding choice in death care.
Terramation is expected to become available in NSW in 2028. At Dying with Dignity NSW, we believe dignity, respect and personal choice matter. We welcome steps that give people more options to make decisions that reflect their wishes, values and beliefs, including how they are cared for after death.

14/10/2026

VAD IN AGED CARE IS SAFE…AT LEAST FOR THE MOMENT. Yesterday in federal parliament Senators exercised a conscience vote to defeat a surprise attempt by One Nation to amend federal aged care laws to give religious aged care providers the right to stop residents from accessing voluntary assisted dying in their own homes.
This was a federal parliament conscience vote, and senators rejected the amendment by a clear margin because it would have stripped residents of their right to access lawful end-of-life services in their own home.
Had it passed, the amendment could have forced residents to leave the place they call home to access VAD.
For older Australians, an aged care residence is home. Being required to leave to access a lawful end-of-life service can cause significant distress and create practical barriers, especially for people already living in aged care facilities, and for those in regional and rural areas where residential options are limited.
Personal choice and dignity matter at every stage of life, including at the end of life.
We know many One Nation members and supporters value personal autonomy and the right to make personal decisions. If you share these values, we encourage you to ask your party to reconsider this policy and support older Australians ability to access lawful VAD without unnecessary barriers.
We thank the senators across party lines who voted against the amendment and recognised the importance of protecting the dignity and autonomy of aged care residents.
Your home matters. Your choices matter.

07/10/2026

ANDREW DENTON ANNOUNCES the launch of the Go Gentle Australia VAD Research Fund, which will support new research to strengthen the evidence base for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) policy reform, advocacy and education.
Speaking at the National Press Club of Australia, ten years after his landmark address that helped ignite national VAD law reform, Andrew took a moment to mark the milestone that, ten years on, all Australian states and territories have now debated and passed VAD laws.
We are pleased to hear the Fund’s first project will explore VAD practitioner attitudes towards access for people with dementia and the safeguards required.
A second project will examine institutional obstruction to VAD and the impact this has on people seeking access at end of life. Through our supporters and our Witness Program, we know this obstruction can significantly limit access and cause distress for terminally ill people and their loved ones. Today’s announcement is very welcome news.

You can watch Andrew Denton's speech on ABC iview https://iview.abc.net.au/show/national-press-club-address/series/0/video/NC2611C037S00

05/10/2026

ANDREW DENTON WILL ADDRESS the National Press Club of Australia this Wednesday 7 October at 12.30pm, and deliver ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying: From Revolution to Real Access’.
In the ten years since his initial promise at the Press Club to “light a fire so big no politician could ignore it”, and founding Go Gentle Australia, Andrew's address reflects on the achievements thus far, with every state and territory passing VAD legislation so all Australians will have access at end-of-life.
No doubt, he will share what is ahead for VAD in Australia so I invite you to tune in!
Tickets for this event are available here: https://npc.org.au/events/andrew-denton
You can watch it live from 12.30pm here https://iview.abc.net.au/channel/news

29/09/2026

THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWING when and how a loved one will die is still new in Australia, and voluntary assisted dying (VAD) introduces emotions that many families have not had to navigate before. These emotions, and the reality of supporting someone through the VAD process, are unpacked across three episodes of the podcast Unleashed.

In them, cohost Dr Ginni Mansberg reflects on her mother’s final weeks, offering both personal honesty and professional perspective after supporting her mum to access VAD.
You can read the accompanying Mamamia article here: https://www.mamamia.com.au/ginni-mansberg-voluntary-assisted-dying/

You can listen to the first episode, I Know The Day My Mum is Going to Die: Ginni’s Story Part 1, here: https://omny.fm/shows/unleashedshow/voluntary-assisted-dying.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to sit with."

25/09/2026

IT’S IMPORTANT WE LISTEN to Australians with dementia and hear their thoughts on voluntary assisted dying (VAD). Despite being a terminal illness there are concerns relating to capacity to make an informed choice and give consent as the illness progresses. Under current state and territory VAD laws, people with dementia cannot choose VAD at end-of-life. We welcome research here and internationally that are calling for people with dementia to have greater choice in their end-of-life care, including voluntary assisted dying. A short read, but has direct quotes from Australians living with dementia that are definitely worth listening to.

New research shares the stories of Australians with dementia who want a choice in how they live and die.

16/09/2026

IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART that we share last week's disappointing result for residents of England, who have once again learnt that access to humane voluntary assisted dying legislation that we now all enjoy as Australians, remains out of reach.
Political analysts report this defeat means there is little to no prospect of legalising assisted dying in Westminster for the foreseeable future. Disappointingly this follows the defeat of similar legislation in Scotland in March this year. Our congratulations for a valiant campaign and fight to advocates and organisations such as Dignity in Dying. Our thoughts are with you.

Moments ago MPs voted against Lauren Edwards MP’s assisted dying bill, by 286 to 270.

This is a devastating setback for dying people - but make no mistake, this issue is not going away. Law change on assisted dying remains a matter of when - not if. The British public demands that Parliament listen, and terminally ill people and families will not rest until they do.

This debate is not hypothetical - assisted dying has been legalised in Jersey and the Isle of Man, where some terminally ill Britons will be able to access assisted dying as soon as next year, while those in England and Wales will be denied the same choice.

Today’s vote should have never been needed. MPs passed the bill last year by a clear majority, before a handful of unelected Peers stalled it to a halt in the House of Lords - not through honest debate but through procedural game-playing. The public deserves better.

We pay tribute to dying people and their families, who will feel the weight of this decision most heavily, and the thousands of supporters campaigning for choice.

We also want to thank Lauren Edwards and every MP who stood with dying people today, as well as Kim Leadbeater MP and Lord Falconer for their years of tireless work on this issue.

Today's result only strengthens our resolve to keep fighting for a safer, more compassionate law.