My Dying Uncle Talks Life, Death, and Australia’s First Year of Legal Euthanasia

Australia has a complex relationship with euthanasia, or voluntary assisted dying (VAD) as it’s now often called. The states of New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia have all debated VAD bills and rejected them. But the mood is beginning to shift. In June 2019, Victoria became the first state in the country to legalise VAD, while a similar scheme will come into effect in Western Australia sometime in mid-2021.

Australia is one of just a handful of countries and US states where the option exists. In the first 12 months since it was legalised in Victoria, 124 people have ended their lives through VAD. And in a few weeks’ time, my uncle, Don, will also die this way.

In mid-2018, Don was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, also…