Author: <span>Editor1</span>

DIGNITAS Newsletter – November 2018

Assisted suicide is still prohibited by law in many countries. Free and responsible citizens continue to be patronised and prevented against their will from ending their suffering and life in a manner they personally consider dignified. Relatives and friends who respect the wish of a seriously ill person to die and who give him or her their support are still being treated as criminals.

Bulletin 18

This Bulletin must begin with an apology. Due to my absence in South Africa at the World Federation of Right to Die Conference we omitted to inform you that the Public Meeting we thought we could organize in September had to be cancelled due to various speakers we approached not being available on that day. I believe some members went to the Grant
Cameron Community Centre thinking that there would be a meeting.

Bulletin 16

DWDACT’s submission to the ACT End of Life Committee has now been published on our website. In May I spoke to the committee as an expert witness representing not only the current members but also the many members who began the organization in the nineteen eighties as a branch of VESNSW as well as those who actively worked for reform during their lives and have died since, without seeing the law change.

Bulletin 15

A Bulletin with the focus on the Australian Capital Territory’s Legislative Assembly is calling for submissions to a Select Committee on End of Life Choices

Bulletin 14

This is the first year since 1997 that we have been able to say that we have had some genuine success in reforming the law to give assistance to die.

Bulletin No 13

In my last Bulletin I was optimistic that we might have a legal breakthrough via The Australian constitution which states that the Commonwealth may not make law imposing religious observances.

Bulletin No 12

Today I received some good news from Kirsty Easdale who has been liaising between barristers Greg Barns and John B. Lawrence SC on behalf of DWDACT:
I heard from Greg Barnes today. Both barristers are willing to accept the brief. I will be able to prepare a brief early next week. I will send through some draft observations for your review prior to them being sent to the barristers.

End of Life Choices – Event 30 March

The options for end of life care are becoming increasingly important to the ACT community. At this free event, hosted by the ACT Law Society and sponsored by the ANU College of Law, a panel of experts will examine the choices and decisions for palliative care currently available to residents of the ACT, and look ahead to the future of end of life care and the legal and medical implications of change.