The NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 failed to pass in the NSW Upper House by one vote. All MPs were given a conscience vote (apart from the 5 Greens who supported it as party policy and the 2 Christian Democrats who opposed it as the policy of their party). The final vote, taken at 11.15 pm on Thursday 16 November 2017, was 19 votes in favour, 20 opposed. 

The NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 was a private member’s bill introduced by Nationals MP Trevor Khan, a member of the Parliamentary Working Group on Assisted Dying which had developed the bill over two years, in consultation with key stakeholders. Trevor Khan MLC vowed in his speech in Parliament just prior to the final vote on 16 November, 2017, not to walk away from the issue, but to reintroduce a voluntary assisted dying bill in the next term of Parliament (after the 2019 state election).

For an outline of The NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 see the DWD NSW Booklet distributed to all MPs prior to the Parliamentary debate – DWD FAQ Booklet October 2017

How They Voted in the Upper House on the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill

The board and members of Dying with Dignity NSW would like to thank the members of the Parliamentary Working Group on Assisted Dying and all those Members of the NSW Legislative Council who voted in support of the NSW Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2017)