Labor under pressure to allow telehealth access for euthanasia; PM says it should be face-to-face

Labor is under pressure to implement changes to its national policy platform to allow Australians to access voluntary assisted dying through telehealth services, with the Greens and independent MP Kate Chaney set to introduce legislation.

Last week's national conference in Adelaide changed the ALP platform, committing Labor to overturn a Howard-era law banning people from having medical appointments regarding euthanasia via telehealth. The new language suggests Labor MPs would have a conscience vote on the issue, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday the government might not progress laws through parliament.

Albanese said while he supports assisted dying, he believes the telehealth change risks undermining proper medical safeguards. "It is important that people have the right to die with dignity," he told ABC TV. "But it's also important that protections are placed around it. I think someone ending their life is just as important, and I think it should be face-to-face recognition and face-to-face engagement."

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young on Sunday indicated she would quickly move ahead with a private member's bill, attempting to force Labor's hand. Independent MP Kate Chaney said on Friday she would reintroduce her own bill, saying it would give Labor "the earliest opportunity to bring this cruel anomaly to an end and give country people the same access as Australians in the big cities."

Doctors and advocates for voluntary assisted dying have long called for changes, arguing the telehealth ban adversely affects patients in rural and remote areas, as well as those whose conditions limit movement. The federal criminal code prohibits using a carriage service to incite or encourage suicide, so health professionals risk breaking the law if they use telecommunications for many aspects of the VAD process. Fines of up to $300,000 are possible for breaches.

Labor's updated platform says the party will "remove barriers that exist in federal law to the provision of end-of-life care (including via telehealth) as part of lawful access to voluntary assisted dying... while maintaining appropriate clinical safeguards." It also guarantees a conscience vote.