More West Australians taking up voluntary assisted dying but still barriers to access, new report reveals

Robbi Flynn was only 33 when she accessed voluntary assisted dying after a terminal cancer diagnosis, but her final weeks in a faith-based public hospital made her ability to have control over her death near impossible. The barriers she faced are one of the key issues highlighted in the latest State of VAD report, compiled by Go Gentle Australia, which saw WA have the second biggest increase in VAD deaths in the country. The State had a 64 per cent increase in VAD deaths — 480 people — in 2024/25 compared to the previous year. There was also an almost two-fold increase in VAD applicants with 878 people applying in 2024/25. Cancer was the primary reason for choosing VAD in WA with 72 per cent of those who accessed the service having a terminal cancer diagnosis. Across the country, there were 3329 VAD deaths and 6627 applications — making up two per cent of all deaths for the year. Go Gentle Australia chief executive Linda Swan said the results showed the service was working well in WA but there was still more to be done to remove barriers. WA’s first statutory review of VAD in 2024 recommended 10 changes to remove barriers to access including addressing conscientious objection as well as workforce sustainability. Dr Swan said these recommendations had not yet been acted on. “The Minister for Health accepted those recommendations, so at this stage you would really hope that there had been some action to address those things, but as far as we can tell, there has been little or no movement towards addressing any of those recommendations,” she said. WA frameworks allow both institutions and individuals to decline to provide VAD services, however, clinicians who opt out still have obligations to provide state government approved information to someone requesting VAD so they can find assistance elsewhere. Despite this law, the report found practices adopted by some health professionals and institutions, mainly at faith-based facilities, holding a conscientious objection to VAD were resulting in people eligible not receiving adequate support. This was the case for Robbi Flynn who immediately knew she wanted to access VAD when she was diagnosed with terminal adenocarcinoma — cancer that starts in glandular cells. However, the faith-based public hospital she was admitted to said they did not support VAD and she wasn’t able to do her three mandatory appointments while in the facility. This meant Ms Flynn had to be transferred out of hospital three times to pursue her VAD choice, which were traumatic as she was in pain, had autism and ADHD, and was reliant on machines to keep her alive. Her mother Gina Sanderson said the barriers the hospital put in her way overshadowed Ms Flynn’s final weeks and caused her daughter anguish right up until her last day. “Robbi being in that hospital, it never occurred to us this would be an issue because VAD was legal,” she said. “They robbed us of time as we were having to spend all our time fighting their systems and getting them to give us the correct information. “Transferring her wasn’t simple. She couldn’t eat so she was on a nutrients bag and she was hooked up to machines. “We got her there and back every time, knowing that if anything happened she could fall into a coma and her VAD option would be gone.” Ms Flynn eventually achieved her goal, dying peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones after enjoying tuna patties made by her brother and watching a movie with her mum. “Robbi was wheeled into the house and she breathed for the first time in a long time,” Ms Sanderson said. “It’s very confronting but it was also absolutely beautiful because we were celebrating that she made it. It was her choice. She’d been so sick and she didn’t want more sickness. “She just grabbed our hands and she just looked around and she said ‘good night’... and then she went to sleep. “I couldn’t stop the fact that she was going to die, but as a mum, to be given the gift to sit with her and make it smooth — what mum wouldn’t want that.” Low workforce was also a barrier to access with the report finding 152 practitioners had been trained for VAD but only 77 were participating in the State across 2024/25. One in three respondents to the 2025 Australian Voluntary Assisted Dying Survey said it had not been easy to find a doctor to support the VAD request. Finding a doctor was the most difficult in WA, Tasmania and Victoria. “People want and expect that if they are at the end of their life and they’re suffering, that they at least can consider VAD as an option and in order for that choice to translate into care, there has to be an effective service and an effective workforce available as well,” Dr Swan said. “We still have more to do to really ensure that assisted dying is just an accepted part of end of life.” For anyone needing community support through VAD visit, Willow.