Good news - the VAD laws passed in the NT!! Bad news - amendments to remove the gag clause and the 12-month timeframe were unsuccessful. The bill passed as it was written.

If you live in the NT, ask your MLA to remove the damaging gag clause and 12-month timeframe from the proposed VAD laws. Find their details here👇 www.gogentleaustralia.org.au/nt_vad

Our do nothing PM, & his do nothing parliamentary colleagues decided to defy the Labor conference, the AMA, the Law Council, state health ministers, the front line medico workforce, & our terminally ill, to vote down Kate Chaney's Bill to allow Telehealth use for VAD consultations. A catholics win.

There might be a big difference in years between your health span and your lifespan. For many of those later years you may be faced with a loss of capacity and unable to make medical treatment decisions for yourself. You Need To Do Your Advance Health Directive www.aihw.gov.au/reports/life...

Albo is one of the most spineless PMs Aust has had. Ever. @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social Sums it up perfectly:

The weekend is coming. How about getting off the couch and grabbing some exercise - a walk is a good start. It's good for the body AND the brain. It seems exercise is coming up more and more as beneficial to reduce dementia / cognitive decline risk. Get off the couch!

A friend in the healthcare system recommended asking for "BRAN" when interacting with healthcare professionals - when any intervention, surgery, treatment, drug, etc is "prescribed". You are entitled to an exploration of each answer to every question - to your satisfaction - before treatment.

For those in the UK please help and sign the petition. The House of Lords is sabotaging the UK assisted dying laws. The terminally ill will pay the consequences. Shame on the House of Lords. Shame on the UK Parliamentary system allowing this. The people deserve better from their Govt. Sigh.

‪There's a lot to the Qld Advance Health Directive form. Yeah it looks like a lot of work. But there are lots of examples in Explanatory Guide. Worst case - copy the examples from the Guide into yours and just edit to suit you. Or copy someone else's. We swapped copies at our coffee and chat.

Given the ever escalating costs of housing, education, medical care etc, this is probably our kids and grandkids future too. They'll need to work beyond retirement age to pay debt. History repeats and back to the future and all that....

The Victorian VAD Review Board Annual Report to June 2025 came out a while back. VAD deaths accounted for 0.85% of all deaths in Victoria, consistent with the previous year. This seems low compared to other states - no doubt access was hindered by the gag law and other barriers e.g. institutions.

The NSW VAD Board released its Annual Report for the year ending 30 June 2025 not long ago. There were 1028 VAD deaths during the year. This is roughly 1.7% of total deaths in NSW.

The Qld VAD Review Board's annual report for 2025 came out not long ago. From 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, 1072 people received assistance to die through administration of a VAD substance. This represents approximately three per cent of the 38,630 total deaths in Queensland.

Liberal Susan Carter's Bill to enable religions to ban VAD in NSW aged care was defeated. Our political representatives should represent us and be held to account. Thanks to Dying with Dignity NSW here is how they all voted. Take note of the names, parties, & those who "Supported" the ban on VAD.

Don't forget to include a bit of resistance training in your life to help your health - especially as you get older. It's never too late. However if regular exercise isn't part of your life lately, check with your GP first. Also look 4 structured group sessions for seniors. Sanjay Gupta 👇

This pretty much sums up where we're at lately.

We collect bits and pieces of things we read (using Readwise). Here's a quote that struck a chord:

An Aust federal election will be held on 3 May 2025. We want the feds to : 👉 Decriminalise Telehealth for VAD 👉 Create Medicare numbers for VAD tasks PM Albo & AG Dreyfus did zero for terminally ill Aussies, like Tom. Tom didn't get VAD because of Captain Courage & AG Useless (Source: Go Gentle)

It's not just Telehealth & Medicare for VAD that needs our fed pollies action with election looming, our Carers of Australia need help too Below is Carer's Federal election asks. So if you get a political doorknocker & you're stuck for ideas hit em with 👇 www.carersaustralia.com.au/carers_suppo...

Another great online resource from our interstate compatriots was canberransforagooddeath.net. They did some great work including a candidate survey for the last ACT election. With the coming federal election looming the findings of their survey may be worth a look. Here's CFAGD's cartoon:

Researchers need to get their work published. And no doubt they see little if any of the money that Taylor & Francis gouges. $90 AUD for the paper, $492 AUD for "the issue". I guess the issue must be gold plated. Is this predatory pricing or what? Sigh. Awareness raised? Um, not so much....👎