Pharmacy Daily | VAD for teens

THE ACT Human Rights Commission has called for teenagers to be allowed to access voluntary assisted dying, arguing that capping the scheme at the age of 18 infringes on young people's right to receive healthcare "without discrimination".

ACT Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne told The Australian in Jun she was considering allowing teenagers as young as 14 to access the euthanasia scheme.

The controversial push was later abandoned with the promise to review the age limit after three years.

The territory's Human Rights Commissioner, Penelope Mathew, Children and Young People Commissioner Jodie Griffiths-Cook and Discrimination, Disability, Health and Community Services Commissioner Karen Toohey have argued that terminally-ill minors should have the right to "voluntarily end their life with dignity in the same circumstances as adults".

Anti-euthanasia advocate Brendan Long said it was "scandalous that an agency funded by ACT taxpayers is advocating for children to be offered assisted suicide".

"It gives mixed messages as we seek to fight the epidemic of youth suicide," he said.

The ACT Labor-Greens govt's voluntary assisted dying framework, which is being examined by a parliamentary committee, will form the foundation of the most liberal scheme in the country if it becomes law.

It doesn't have a requirement for a predicted time of death and includes provisions that allows social workers and counsellors to initiate conversations about euthanasia.