Northern Territory VAD laws set to pass, making euthanasia legal across all Australian jurisdictions

Proposed voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws are set to pass the Northern Territory parliament in a conscience vote, making euthanasia legal in all Australian jurisdictions.

The ABC understands all 17 Country Liberal Party (CLP) MLAs will support the Rights of the Terminally Ill bill when it is voted on in August, with the chief minister today confirming it has the numbers regardless of opposition or crossbench support.

Today Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby gave notice that the bill will be introduced to parliament on Thursday and be debated in August.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said Territorians now had certainty VAD would soon be legal in the NT.

The NT was the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise VAD in 1996, after a private member's bill introduced the year before by then-CLP chief minister Marshall Perron passed.

The effect of the law was taken away by the federal parliament in 1997. The NT and ACT's right to pass VAD legislation was restored in 2022.

Bill diverges from report recommendations

The CLP government commissioned a parliamentary inquiry after winning power in 2024, with the subsequent report formally recommending VAD be adopted.

It recommended there be no requirement for a prognosis time frame for a person to be eligible for VAD, but Ms Boothby confirmed that under the bill only people with 12 months or less to live would have access to it.

The inquiry's report also recommended against a so-called "gag clause" that bars doctors from initiating VAD discussions with patients.

But such a clause will be included in the bill, Ms Boothby confirmed, saying the laws are "patient-led".

"That means that the patient initiates that conversation and, once they do, then all of those discussions can occur," she said.

Asked whether the CLP government developed the bill in a way that would secure support from all of its MLAs, Ms Boothby said recommendations from the inquiry had "largely" been adopted.

Council on the Ageing NT chief executive Sue Shearer said her organisation was "really pleased" the bill would pass, but ideally it would not have the gag clause or 12-month time frame included.

"The chief minister has promised a review [of the laws], so we'll wait and see what that review says," she said.

Four of Labor's five MLAs are set to support the bill. Chansey Paech has indicated he will abstain due to the wishes of his electorate, although he personally supports VAD.

During his last speech in parliament on VAD, independent Yingiya Guyula said the inquiry's drafting instructions for the bill did not go far enough to protect First Nations people.

He said he will wait to see the bill before deciding his vote.

Independent speaker Robyn Lambley said she had personal concerns about VAD, but would "not get in the way of Territorians having the same access to VAD as other Australians".

Darwin-based independent Justine Davis is an advocate for VAD and will support the bill.