Oz care difficulties drive man to opt for euthanasia

An Australian man facing care challenges due to his Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has started the process of applying for ‘voluntary assisted dying’ (VAD).

Diagnosed with MND last year, 71-year-old Queenslander Tony Lewis said he wants to ask for help to die for fear of becoming a burden to his wife.

Since Queensland introduced the scheme in 2023, more than 2,100 patients have been euthanised or died by assisted suicide. In 2024-25, there was a 35 per cent increase in VAD deaths compared to the previous year.

A dignified life and death

Tony’s wife Gill, who provides much of his round-the-clock care, attributed most of their frustrations to the Government-funded care system, which she said moved at a “glacial pace”.

“If I request a pressure-area cushion, I can wait two or three months, and pressure areas don’t wait for approval.” She added: “MND moves quickly, but everything around it moves slowly.”

Aged care campaign group HelloCare reported: “Faced with the prospect of further decline without adequate support, Mr Lewis has chosen to begin the voluntary assisted dying process.

“He has been clear that the decision is not driven by a lack of will to live, but by the absence of appropriate care options that would allow him to remain at home with dignity.”

Evidence

In 2024, bioethicist Professor David Albert Jones found “clear evidence” of harm in the quality and provision of end-of-life care following the introduction of assisted suicide or euthanasia in other countries.

In his review of data between 2012 and 2019, Prof Jones found that the 20 countries in Western Europe without assisted suicide increased end-of-life funding by 25 per cent.

During the same period in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland – countries where assisted suicide is legal – funding only grew by 7.9 per cent.

In 2022, the UK was ranked top in an international investigation into ‘the quality of death and dying’ in 81 jurisdictions.