The process of dying in an assisted suicide after initially approaching a doctor in Victoria, Australia has become legal for the terminally ill. It has been more than 20 years since the country repealed the world's first mercy-killing law for the terminally ill.
According to Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, one patient a month could be assisted to die in the first year.
Under the law for voluntary assisted dying, the person should be in a sound state of mind, should have one year to live or under six months for those with neurodegenerative conditions.
And their suffering must be deemed 'intolerable'. Three requests for assisted suicide must be submitted that would be verified by two doctors of experience.
In 1995, the sparsely populated Northern Territory became the first jurisdiction in the world to legalise doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. But the Australian Parliament overturned that law in 1997 after four people had been helped to die.
The Australian Parliament does not have the same power to repeal the laws of states such as Victoria.
