Remind the NTG that VAD in the NT is Unfinished business – Write this law. Right this wrong

You can help support Go Gentle’s campaign to put pressure on NT politicans every day until they make VAD legal. Donate here.

COTA NT is proud to share this message from fellow VAD advocate Andrew Dention, founder of Go Gentle Australia.

When Go Gentle was created in 2016, our first objective was to make voluntary assisted dying (VAD) a legally available choice for all Australians. 

Thanks to your support, when the ACT law comes into effect in November, we will have achieved that objective — except for the Northern Territory. 

It is wrong — and tragic — that in 2025 NT residents are denied the same end-of-life choices as other Australians. It is unacceptable that they are treated like second class citizens by their own government, which says the suffering of Territorians ‘is not a priority’.

That’s why this end of financial year we are seeking to raise $100k to put pressure on NT politicians every day until they make VAD legal. 

Please will you make an end-of-financial-year gift to help us reach this goal? DONATE NOW

Ironically, the NT was the first place in Australia — and the world — to pass an assisted dying law, in 1995, only to have it overturned by Federal Parliament two years later. Kevin Andrews, a Howard government backbencher, led what journalist Michael Gordon described as a ‘subterranean catholic conspiracy’ to override the will of the NT’s democratically elected parliament. Not only did they shut down the NT law, they took away the right of that parliament to even discuss it. Again thanks to your pressure, our Federal Parliament returned to the Territories the right to debate, and pass, a VAD law in 2022. The coup was undone.  

But while the ACT acted quickly, the NT Government has dragged its feet. It has ignored the findings of an independent expert panel which, after 14 months of consultation, finally recommended the NT pass its own VAD law. New Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has said VAD is ‘not a priority’ for her government, despite support from 70-80% of Territorians. 

• This month, an independent MP tried to force the Chief Minister’s hand by moving a motion to implement the expert panel’s findings and draft a VAD law. But instead of getting on with it, on the very same day the Government announced a new inquiry, replacing the panel’s independent experts with — you guessed it — politicians. 
• No wonder former NT Chief Minister, and architect of the NT’s original law, Marshall Perron called it “another tactic to delay implementation, for at least 2 years, possibly more”.
• And no wonder The Australian Christian Lobby gloated about the delay calling it a win that could lead to the expert panel’s support for VAD being overturned.

So, it’s time to up the ante; to go back to our roots with a high-profile public campaign to remind the NT government that the people who put them there deserve the same rights as every other Australian. 

To mark the 30th anniversary of the original NT law, we want to raise $100k for a campaign that will leave the NT government in no doubt that the community wants this law drafted. 

This is not just an issue for Territorians — it’s an issue for all of us who care about fairness and choice for all Australians. 

Will you help us to write this law… and right this wrong with a tax deductible donation before the end of June? Together we have already achieved so much. We must not allow the NT to be left behind. Please, help us get the job done. 

Andrew Denton
Go Gentle Australia

Read the Facebook Entries of an 83-year old Darwin man, John Baylis. This is the humn cost in the NT of Territorians with no right to choose. It is a harrowing read.