While Health Minister Chris Picton says if there is “any avenue to safely bring it forward further then we will absolutely do so”, psychiatrist Dr Melanie Turner – who has been named as presiding member of a new Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Review Board – told InDaily: “I do think we are going to need until the end of January.”

Turner is confident, however, that the State Government will meet its January 31 deadline and that access won’t be delayed beyond that, despite key elements still being worked on.

“We obviously review it continuously… but January 31 is still our date,” she said.

Voluntary Assisted Dying SA president Frances Coombe – who is also on the VAD implementation taskforce – said South Australians had already waited too long, after laws passed parliament in an historic vote in June last year.

“People are going to be suffering over the Christmas period,” she said.

“People are contacting me now almost weekly in distress asking when the legislation is going to commence.”

Coombe is calling for a November 30 start for the laws giving South Australians aged over 18 with a diagnosed incurable illness access to legal euthanasia.

“That gives six weeks to train care navigators and get things in order and we don’t see why it would take any longer, certainly not up until the end of January,” she said.

The State Government has already brought forward the implementation to January 31 – two months earlier than what was originally scheduled by the former government, which had flagged the end of March as the start date.

At the time it said it was exploring ways to bring the measures forward even further than the end of January if possible and Picton has reiterated that.

But Turner said November 30 would be too rushed, with an online VAD portal and training package for doctors still being worked on.

“We need to give our practitioners longer to be able to log on and do their training and ask questions,” she said.

“And the actual training package itself isn’t completed yet for people to sit in front of it and do that.

“That would only be giving people six or seven weeks and I want clinicians to feel really confident.

“I think if we give people seven weeks or so that’s going to be too short and I’d be concerned it wouldn’t be the best quality VAD we could roll out, and that’s really important.

“We have no vested interest in it taking longer than we need but I do think we are going to need until the end of January.”

Picton told InDaily that “having supported this legislation in the parliament I am determined that we get it up and running as quickly as possible, as safely as possible, and as accessible as possible”.

“We weren’t satisfied with the previous implementation date of 31 March, so we have been able to bring it forward to 31 January – if we can bring it forward any more than that we will do so,” he said.

He said he joined Attorney-General Kyam Maher, who steered the VAD legislation through parliament’s Upper House, in meeting with the VAD Implementation Taskforce in July, and “asked the group whether there was any possibility I could again bring it forward and none of the members said it was then possible”.

He said Adelaide GP and former AMA vice president Dr Chris Moy, who is heading the Taskforce, had “advised the significant work still to be completed, including the training of medical and health staff, is the key barrier but work is progressing as quickly as possible”.

However, the minister added, “the implementation date is continually under review and if there is any avenue to safely bring it forward further then we will absolutely do so”.

The State Government has announced details of a new eight-member board, including senior clinicians, legal professionals and ethical and governance experts, as well as former Liberal maverick and former Advocate for Suicide Prevention John Dawkins.

Dawkins – who was axed by the former government as the Premier’s Advocate for Suicide Prevention in 2020 after he successfully ran for the Upper House Presidency against the Liberal Party’s wishes – told InDaily: “I’m pleased to have been appointed to the board because I had a long interest in voluntary assisted dying in all its forms over my nearly 25 years in parliament.”

The review board will retrospectively monitor VAD assessments once the laws become operational.

“Obviously VAD is a really significant health decision for people to make and the role really is to ensure that all of the cases that go through meet the legislative requirements for both clinician and patient to ensure that what we’re offering is safe and is appropriate,” Turner said.

“We’re doing some of the background work now around terms of reference and role of the board and things like how we want to review all of the cases, the data we think would be best to collect, working together with the secretariat to work out some really good solid things like operational procedures and pathways with complaints and feedback and how we participate in that.”

Turner said she did not expect a rush of applications once VAD becomes accessible

“We’ve looked at different numbers for VAD overseas and in Australia to try to look at how many people will be using VAD (here),” she said.

“Not many places have seen a rush on numbers… we might have one or two hundred people perhaps using it in the first 12 months.”

Picton said the Review Board “will play a crucial role in safeguarding the rights of people living with a terminal illness at end of life”.

“Each member has been appointed based on their professional and lived experience, all dedicated to meeting the needs of those making this choice in a compassionate and dignified way,” he said.

“Already through their first few meetings the Board is setting the groundwork for how the scheme will face ongoing review once it comes into effect.”

The VAD Review Board members are:

• Dr Melanie Turner (Presiding Member)
• Ms Helen Walker (Deputy Presiding Member)
• Hon John Dawkins
• Dr Roger Hunt
• Mr Rainer Jozeps
• Mr Greg May
• Ms Michele Smith
• Ms Helen Stone