Quality Practice Series #14 (October 2025)

In this edition:

The Board has finalised its 4th Annual Report to reflect on activity in 2024 - 2025 and make recommendations for improvement to the system. The Annual Report will be presented to the Minister for Health and tabled in Parliament later in the year.

We look forward to sharing the details of the report with you in due course. The Annual Report data demonstrates there has been a sustained increase in activity in this financial year as voluntary assisted dying becomes an established end of life choice for West Australians.

The Board would like to express their gratitude for the time and effort of all who deliver essential voluntary assisted dying services. We encourage you to reach out and share your experiences with us. You can do this through the submission of a personal reflection (that can be found here) or by emailing the VAD Board Secretariat Unit (VADBoard@health.wa.gov.au)

Dr Scott Blackwell
Chair - Voluntary Assisted Dying Board

Following some recent attempted interactions with the VAD-IMS platform, geo-blocking has been implemented. This means users will not be able to access, log into or submit forms on VAD-IMS if they are located outside Australia and using a foreign IP address.

The Board continues to recommend that practitioners should consider transferring the coordinating practitioner and/or administering practitioner role(s) to another VAD practitioner before going on leave to ensure the patient’s continuity of care, and encourage practitioners to refresh and recharge while on holiday.

Should you have a situation where your patient requires urgent assistance with a voluntary assisted dying activity while you are outside of Australia, some options will be available to you, including submitting forms manually. If you require any assistance with this, please contact the Secretariat Unit on 0487 447 920 or VADBoard@health.wa.gov.au for further instructions.

The Board has worked with the Department of Health to produce an information brochure to improve general understanding of voluntary assisted dying in the community. 

The brochure - Voluntary assisted dying – Information for patients, family and the community - can be ordered for your practice or place of work by emailing the DOH VAD Policy inbox (VADpolicy@health.wa.gov.au) with the quantity required, person to be addressed to and the address for delivery.

A digital copy of the brochure is attached to this email and can also be downloaded from the VAD-IMS Resource Hub.

The Final Review is an important step in the voluntary assisted dying process, where, following the patient's final request, the coordinating practitioner reviews the request and assessment process and certifies that the patient has decision-making capacity, is acting voluntarily and without coercion, and has made an enduring request.

In submitting the Final Review, practitioners are certifying that the First Assessment, Consulting Assessment and Written Declaration forms have been completed in accordance with the Act. It is important to ensure these forms have been submitted and filled in correctly before completing the Final Review as errors or omissions in the forms may result in subsequent forms being invalid and requiring re-completion.

An update to the intravenous protocols within the VAD Prescription and Administration Information was recently implemented. This revision reflected feedback received from the WA Voluntary Assisted Dying Statewide Pharmacy Service (SWPS) and was approved by the VAD Clinical Panel.

Copies of the updated protocols were sent to practitioners via express post in August.

If you have any questions regarding the updated protocols, please contact SWPS on (08) 6383 3088 or email statewidepharmacy@health.wa.gov.au.

The Secretariat Unit continues to monitor and support practitioners with submitting the required notifications to the Board through VAD-IMS. Some common issues to look out for include:

The Board continues to receive Personal Reflections from patients, families and practitioners and appreciates the time taken to share these reflections. Personal reflections are a valuable tool to give the Board insight into the barriers and problems that might be experienced in accessing and delivering VAD services and inform the recommendations and future focus of the Board in its Annual Reports.

We would welcome further submissions of personal reflections from practitioners to share your experience. The Personal Reflection form can be found here and can be emailed to the VAD Board Secretariat Unit (VADBoard@health.wa.gov.au).

Previous editions of the Quality Practice Series can be downloaded from the Resource Hub in VAD-IMS.

This document can be made available in alternative formats on request for a person with disability.

© Department of Health 2025

Copyright to this material is vested in the State of Western Australia unless otherwise indicated. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced or re-used for any purposes whatsoever without written permission of the State of Western Australia

Department of Health Voluntary Assisted Dying Online Resources