By Grace Jones | posted on November 15, 2018
ALBANY-based palliative care specialist Kirsten Auret says she will approach the topic of voluntary assisted dying with intellectual and emotional openness following her appointment to the expert panel that will draft legislation to be put to State Parliament.
On Monday, Health Minister Roger Cook said a bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying would be presented to Parliament in 2019 with members of Parliament offered a conscience vote.
Dr Auret has 20 years’ experience in the field, is the deputy director for the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia and an Associate Professor with the University of Western Australia.
“I was quite vocal during the Joint Select Committee hearings earlier this year,” she told The Weekender.
“I spoke at a hearing in Perth about my medical students and assessing competency with medically unwell patients and also spoke at the hearing in Albany.
“I guess that’s why the Minister for Health gave me a call and asked if I would sit on the panel.
“I felt that it was important for the community for the Bill to be tabled, so I joined.”
Dr Auret said a wide range of perspectives would be heard during the panel meetings, with the group consisting of a mixture of health and law professionals.
“There are law, health, palliative, geriatric and intensive care experts that will get some balanced opinions for the wider community,” she said.
“Going into this panel, I need to listen to the views of the community so we can draft good legislation that is in the best interests of everyone.
“It’s an extremely divisive topic. We need to look at previous legislation, for example Victoria’s Bill, and we also need to look at making the legislation fit WA’s culture.
Dr Auret said the panel needed to consider if assisted dying was the best way to relieve suffering for people who wanted to relieve their suffering.
“We need to act with kindness and compassion as doctors, and the Bill needs to honour that,” she said.
Dr Auret said she hoped other recommendations in the My Life, My Choice report concerning palliative care would be addressed in the future.
“There is a concern articulated that the further you get from Albany or from the city, it is more and more difficult to access palliative care,” she said.
“Albany is very, very blessed to have the hospice and the palliative care nurses. The further away you are though is an issue.
“If the legislation goes through, I hope that the other recommendations that were made are also taken up.
“Palliative care is a less controversial good to discuss.”
The first panel meeting is set for early December.
Joining Dr Auret on the panel are Dr Penny Flett, Dr Scott Blackwell, Dr Roger Hunt, Dr Elissa Campbell, Dr Simon Towler, Kate George, Fiona Seaward, Noreen Fynn, Samantha Jenkinson and former Governor of WA Malcolm McCusker as chair.
