Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021

A person has decision-making capacity in relation to voluntary assisted dying if the person is capable of—

understanding the nature and effect of decisions about access to voluntary assisted dying; and

freely and voluntarily making decisions about access to voluntary assisted dying; and

communicating decisions about access to voluntary assisted dying in some way.

A person is presumed to have decision-making capacity in relation to voluntary assisted dying unless there is evidence to the contrary.

In determining whether or not a person has decision-making capacity in relation to voluntary assisted dying, regard must be had to the following—

a person may have decision-making capacity to make some decisions but not others;

capacity can change or fluctuate and a person may temporarily lose capacity and later regain it;

it should not be presumed that a person does not have decision-making capacity—

because of a personal characteristic such as, for example, age, appearance or language skills; or

because the person has a disability or an illness; or

because the person makes a decision with which other people may not agree;

a person is capable of doing a thing mentioned in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) if the person is capable of doing the thing with adequate and appropriate support.Examples of support—

• giving a person information that is tailored to their needs

• giving information to a person in a way that is tailored to their needs

• communicating, or assisting a person to communicate, the person’s decision

• giving a person additional time and discussing the matter with the person

• using technology that alleviates the effects of a person’s disability