Public consultation opens on review of the End of Life Choice Act

The End of Life Choice Act is the law that makes assisted dying legal in New Zealand. It came into force on 7 November 2021, following a public referendum held alongside the 2020 General Election.

Online consultation begins today (1 August 2024) and ends at 5pm on Thursday 26 September 2024. View the online consultation.

The Ministry of Health administers the Act. Under the legislation, the Ministry is required to review the operation of the Act within three years of it coming into force, and every five years after that.

The Ministry is carrying out the review in two parts:

• a review of the operation of the Act, focused on how well it is currently achieving its purposes. This is already underway.

• an online process to gather public feedback about changes that could be made to the Act.

“Many people and organisations have expressed interest in sharing their views on the Act, so the Ministry of Health is now inviting people to share these through our digital consultation platform,” says Emma Prestidge, Group Manager, Family and Community Health Policy at the Ministry of Health.

“People can share their views on any aspect of the Act. We will be collating the public feedback we receive into a summary report for the Government.”

Along with the summary of feedback, the Ministry will also provide the Office of the Minister of Health Hon Dr Shane Reti with a report outlining findings from its review of the operation of the Act. Both documents will be tabled in Parliament.

The Government will not make changes to the End of Life Choice Act following the review. However, individual political parties can decide whether they wish to progress changes through Members’ bills.

Health New Zealand publishes data on assisted dying on a quarterly basis, and the Registrar (assisted dying) Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Health, provides an annual overview.

The latest full-year data shows that 344 people had an assisted death in the year to 31 March 2024.

The purposes of the End of Life Choice Act are to:

• give people who have a terminal illness, and who meet certain criteria, the option of lawfully requesting medical assistance to end their lives.

• establish a lawful process for assisting eligible people who exercise that option.

• provide for safeguards to ensure that assisted dying is only provided to those who are eligible, who actively seek and consent to it, and that this consent is provided without pressure from others.