Administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance

Administration and death

You can choose your preferred date, time, and place to administer the substance.

You should discuss your expectations and assumptions about administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance with your coordinating doctor or administering doctor or nurse. They may help you consider how best to support your plans for death.

These discussions could involve:

• when and where in Queensland administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance might occur:
  • in your own home
  • in another home environment
  • on country
  • in a hospital
  • in a palliative care unit or hospice
  • in a residential aged care facility
• religious, cultural, spiritual, or other aspects of death that are important to you
• discussing ongoing symptom management and other palliative care needs
• identifying who you would like to be present during administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance
• supports to navigate family conflict (if any arises in relation to voluntary assisted dying)
• how to help prepare those who will be present during voluntary assisted dying administration
• providing instruction about comfort care to family, carers and friends
• preparing for what happens immediately after your death has occurred
• broader aspects of planning for death, if appropriate, including funeral arrangements and creating a will.

It’s recommended you include a support person in these discussions.

Self-administration

If you have made a self-administration decision you will be encouraged not to self-administer alone. If you choose to be alone, an appropriate plan should be put in place to ensure your contact person can complete their role, which includes:

• telling the coordinating doctor when you die
• if there is any unused or remaining substance, giving it to an authorised disposer (pharmacist)
• if asked, providing information to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board (the Review Board).

Your contact person must dispose of any unused or remaining substance in line with the disposal requirements. These requirements will be provided to them by the Review Board and QVAD-Pharmacy.

Practitioner administration

Your administering doctor or nurse must administer the substance to you in front of a witness. The witness to practitioner administration must be at least 18 years of age. There are no other eligibility requirements for the witness. You may have other people present for administration if you wish.

Before administering the voluntary assisted dying substance to you, your administering doctor or nurse must be satisfied that you:

• still have decision-making capacity
• are acting voluntarily and without coercion.

Your administering doctor or nurse must dispose of any unused or remaining substance in line with the disposal requirements.

Role of your witness

The purpose of a witness for practitioner administration is to provide a safeguard to ensure that:

• your request for voluntary assisted dying is voluntary
• you are not being pressured into accessing voluntary assisted dying by someone else.

Your witness will need to fill in the witness section of the Practitioner Administration Form. This form is for your administering doctor or nurse to make a record of the administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance to you. This form is completed after you die. Your witness will need to certify in the form that:

• you appeared to be acting voluntarily and without coercion
• they were present when the doctor or nurse administered the substance to you.

Further information

The following resources are available for you and your witnesses for practitioner administration:

• Choosing a witness for practitioner administration (PDF, 294KB)
• Being a witness for practitioner administration (PDF, 299KB)
• Checklist for being a witness for practitioner administration (PDF, 309KB)
• Completing the Practitioner Administration Form

If administration cannot proceed

If your administering doctor or nurse is not satisfied you:

• have decision-making capacity, or
• are acting voluntarily and without coercion.

They will not administer you the substance.

Your coordinating doctor, or administering doctor or nurse will talk to you about other care and support available to you, this could include:

• discussing how your treating healthcare team may help ease any physical symptoms, psychosocial or spiritual distress you may be experiencing
• updating your care plan
• providing you with alternate referrals to relevant healthcare workers
• organising additional support from a specialist palliative care team, if one is not already involved in your care
• discussing their decision with other members of your healthcare team and family—if you do not want this to happen, they will respect your privacy.

What you can do

If your administering doctor or nurse does not administer you the substance because you don't have capacity, if you regain capacity you can ask to reschedule the administration of the substance for another time.

What happens next

After you die, the death notification and certification will be completed and any unused or remaining voluntary assisted dying substance will be disposed.

In this guide:

1. Administration decision
2. Appointing the contact person
3. Prescription and supply of the voluntary assisted dying substance
4. Administration and death

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