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Voluntary Assisted Dying for the Northern Territory
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Vountary assisted dying for the Northern Territory

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As a Supporter of VAD choice for the Northern Territory, you can share any of the materials on this page with your family, friends, neighbours and networks.

“I encourage you to act relentlessly, respectfully, and with careful research. And let’s go forward and get this done.” Andrew Denton (view recording of Darwin community information session here)

Information and campaign materials:

These resources are all designed to be shared. If you have any issues accessing them, please contact us.

Pledge cards and petition pages can be returned to COTA NT, GPO Box 852 Darwin NT 0801. Alternatively, photos of pledge card displays can be sent by email for use in our online Supporters Gallery and the petition can be signed online here. You are also welcome to use the pledge card as  a ‘postcard’ to your Local MLA (keep a record, preferably photographic of what you send).

Recent activity 

  • 13 July 2026 —  1,383 petition signatories: 315 verified signatures on the online petition,  1,068 signatures collated on the printed petition
  • 6 July 2026 — Dr Tanzil Rahman presentation: VAD Q&A delivered ahead of the VAD bill being introduced to NT Parliament for conscience voting.
  • 27 June 2026 — Chief Minister’s address at the COTA NT Seniors Expo  in Darwin reiterated the intent to introduce the VAD bill for Parliamentary voting in July. “…We’re the only government who would deliver a voluntary assisted dying bill in Parliament in July.”
  • May 2026  —  COTA NT’s Seniors Voice published 
    • Statement urging Territorians to act and to let their local MLA know how they want them to vote.
    • Marshall Perron’s letter to the Hon. Marie–Clare Boothby, Attorney-General of the NT and Members of the Legislative Assembly (sent 17 February). In this letter, Marshall Perron urges acceptance of the LCAC Committee’s conclusion that an individual’s eligibility to access voluntary assisted dying should be based on intolerable and hopeless suffering, not an arbitrary [prognostic]  timeframe.
    • State of VAD Report 2026 Go Gentle Australia has also released a new national report, compiled using publicly available data from each state’s VAD oversight body. It finds Australia’s VAD laws fulfil their promise to relieve suffering and provide terminally ill people with greater choice at the end of life. The increase in public demands for VAD services has raised concerns, however, about workforce capacity and long-term sustainability. Read the full report here.
    • Extracts from Peter Warren’s presention (page 7)… “I can tell you, worldwide, some things never change. Opponents to Assisted Dying are still using the same arguments that Marshall Perron faced back in 1995. Be ready for them. As much as you think that it is almost inevitable that you will pass the law here, it isn’t.”
  • 20 April 2026 — Advocates for VAD hosted An Audience with Peter Warren, Executive Director of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies. Peter outlined how assisted dying laws operate safely around the world — and what lessons the NT can draw. He also highlighted what tactics opponents to VAD across the world have adopted. 
  • 2 January 2026 — Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said the NT government was now drafting legislation, with the bill to be introduced to parliament mid-2026.
  • 14 October 2025 — Voluntary Assisted Dying in the Northern Territory Final Report tabled in Parliament. Bill to be drafted for early 2026 based on the 86 recommendations in the Final Report (not on the draft Bill provided by the Leader of the Opposition. No date was provided for completion of the draft Bill.
  • 2 October 2025 — The NT News reported that of the 25 MLA, 13 politicians had stated they personally believed the NT should allow voluntary assisted dying, 10 had declined to comment or were recorded as undecided. (These were Members for: Brennan, Port Darwin, Wanguri, Sanderson, Barkly, Spillett, Blain, Karama, Casuarina and Fong Lim). Many of these Members were also reported as seeking the views of their communities and said that they would be voting in accordance with the wishes of their electorate.
  • 30 September 2025 —Voluntary Assisted Dying in the Northern Territory Final Report – Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee 
  • 30 September 2025 — Write This Law VAD Choice in the NT Community Information Session Recording 

What you can do

⚖️ Write to your local Member

⚖️ Signing the Petition*

Show your support of VAD choice in the NT and sign our print or online petition. This is worded, 
To the Speaker and the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
This petition as signed below calls the attention of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly to: The Northern Territory is the only place in Australia without a voluntary assisted dying (VAD) law.
The Petitioners therefore ask that the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly: Pass a voluntary assisted dying law in the Northern Territory without delay. 

  • You can sign or pick up petition pages to share at COTA NT’s head office at 65 Smith Street, Darwin during normal opening hours or download a Petition-Time to Write This Law page. This must be returned to COTA NT at your own cost. If you wish, you can sign the same petition online here instead (n.b. the petition is hosted on the change.org platform). DO NOT SIGN A PRINT AND DIGITAL VERSION.

⚖️ Sharing the Petition

  • You can share the online petition by text, social media or email.
    • Petition link is https://chng.it/GXCxJcJ4Zq
    • Social media tile – click here
    • By email – suggested text below,

      • Hi there
        I just signed the petition “Time to Write This Law: Voluntary Assisted Dying Choice for the NT” and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name.
        Our goal is to reach 200 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here: https://chng.it/BsDnrLHPRv

⚖️ Share your story if you wish (click here) Politicians care about you, the voters. If you feel comfortable, please share your story of why you want the law to change on VAD. It might be a personal experience, or perhaps you saw a loved one die badly. In other states, these stories have been the single most effective way to influence politicians.

⚖️ Donate to national advocacy charity, Go Gentle Australia – Go Gentle was founded in 2016 by broadcaster Andrew Denton following his own father’s painful death. Go Gentle Australia promotes and enables choice at the end of life, including the option of voluntary assisted dying. DONATE HERE

September 2025 – Go Gentle Australia partnered with COTA NT to campaign for VAD choice in the NT. Donations are always welcome and the campaign is not yet over.

⚖️ Spread awareness within the NT community about VAD and the work being done to pressure politicians to draft VAD law for the NT.

Follow leading advocates on social media and share their posts:

⚖️ Find out more

VAD advocates and supporters include:

  • *See also: Petition must be signed by at least one person on the sheet on which the text of petition is printed. Subsequent signatures may be written on the sheets containing the request of the petition. Petition must be signed by the parties whose names are on the petition, by their own hand, and by no one else, except in the case of incapacity or sickness. No letters, affidavits or other documents may be attached to any petition. Petition must not be altered or otherwise marked up or amended. Upon presentation to the Assembly, petition will become a public document. (Full Guidelines-to-Lodging-a-Petition here)

Page updated 10 July 2026