LAUSR

Once the storm passed, there was an uneasy calm. The tumult that enveloped Victoria in the euthanasia/ physician-assisted suicide (E/PAS) debate culminated in the passage of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) (hereafter ‘the Act’). The Act permits, for the first time in an Australian state, in certain circumstances, both euthanasia and PAS. It comes into operation in June 2019. From the very public domain of the parliament and the press, the human drama now moves into an intensely private space: the encounter of a patient with a doctor. Founding that encounter is the law. Experiencing that encounter are the individuals themselves. The Act contains several elements. The eligibility criteria of the person seeking voluntary assisted dying (VAD) are presented in Table 1. The process from the time of request is presented in Table 2. The objective of this editorial is to examine the Act and the changed terrain of medicine, law and ethics in Victoria.