With the commencement of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) in June 2019, Victoria became the first Australian State to permit voluntary assisted dying. This article considers the extent to which this novel Act reflects its stated policy goals. The first part of the article identifies the purported policy goals of the Act. This analysis draws on the explanatory material accompanying the law, in particular the expert Ministerial Advisory Panel Report which shaped the law. The article then critically evaluates the extent to which key aspects of the Act reflect those identified policy goals. Overall, the article concludes that the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) is not consistent with its policy goals in some important respects.

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(2020) 43(2) UNSWLJ 417: https://doi.org/10.53637/QEQJ5610