Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman has announced that the introduction of voluntary assisted dying legislation will be delayed until May 2021, promising that the delay will not have a detrimental impact on the state.

The delay follows the Queensland Government’s recommitment to introducing assisted dying laws when Anastasia Palaszczuk’s Labour Government was re-elected in October this year. The laws were first proposed in 2018 with following reports conducted by the Queensland Parliament’s Health Committee demonstrating majority support in favour of assisted dying laws. After submissions were filed in February 2019 and 41 hearings were held, the bill was largely supported by the Labour Government, who promised to introduce new legislation by early 2021.

However, following discussions with the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC), a final report and draft bill  is anticipated to only be introduced into Parliament at the end of May.

Addressing the delay last week Acting Premier Steven Miles reaffirmed that due to the “extremely complex and deeply personal” nature of the legislation, the Queensland Government was committed to “getting it right”. The extension is intended to ensure that vulnerable communities, including the elderly, are sufficiently safeguarded.

Presuming the law is passed in Parliament in May, the Premier’s statement also outlined a reduced implementation time of 15 months to ensure that the delay doesn’t affect the public’s ability to legally access assisted dying.

As it stands, Western Australia and Victoria are the only Australian states to have enacted assisted dying legislation. According to Premier Miles and Attorney-General Fentiman, the Queensland government has learnt from example, with the delay ensuring that the legislation “is workable in a Queensland context.”

In accordance with the delay, the Queensland Government has also committed additional resources to the QLRC, allowing the Chairman, Justice Peter Applegarth, to provide an update review in early February 2021, prior to Parliamentary review.