ACHLR Public Lecture - International Perspectives on Assisted Dying

International Perspectives on Assisted Dying: Comparative insights from Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia

As assisted dying becomes increasingly legalised across the globe, important insights can be gained from how different jurisdictions approach access, safeguards, clinical practice, and oversight. This international panel brings together leading experts from Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia—countries with established or emerging assisted dying regimes, each shaped by distinct cultural norms and regulatory approaches.

Join our panel of international experts, Professor Ben White (Australia), Emeritus Professor Luc Deliens (Belgium), Professor Agnes Van der Heide (The Netherlands) and Professor James Downar (Canada) for this important and informative discussion.

Speakers

Professor Ben White

Ben White is Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the School of Law, Queensland University of Technology. He was a foundation Director of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research and still co-leads its End-of-Life Research Program. Ben has been researching end-of-life law, policy and practice for over 20 years and been part of interdisciplinary teams awarded $A66 million in the field of end-of-life decision-making, including from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, Commonwealth and State governments and philanthropic organisations. Ben’s research currently focuses on voluntary assisted dying (VAD). Current projects include an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship on ‘Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying’, a national study of VAD in practice, and an exploratory study of dementia and VAD. He (with colleagues) developed the mandatory training in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland for clinicians providing VAD.

Professor Agnes van der Heide

Agnes is professor in end-of-life care and decision making at the department of Public Health at Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Since 1995, she has investigated epidemiological, clinical, ethical, legal and other aspects of palliative and end-of-life care, and of euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions, in local and international research projects. She was the Principal Investigator of all four national scientific evaluation studies of the Dutch Termination of Life Upon Request and Assisted Suicide Review Procedure Act, that have been conducted since the Act came into force in 2002.

Professor James Downar

James Downar is a Critical Care and Palliative Care physician in Ottawa. He is currently Professor and Head of the Division of Palliative Care at the University of Ottawa, where he holds a Clinical Research Chair in Palliative and End of Life Care. He is the current President of the Canadian Critical Care Society and co-chair of the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative. He has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications and was the principal investigator on more than 30 peer-reviewed grants on topics such as medical aid in dying; communication and decision-making for serious illness; palliative care in the critical care setting; grief and bereavement; and the treatment of psychological and existential distress in advanced illness. In 2025, he received the King Charles III Coronation medal for contributions to Palliative Care in Canada, and in 2021 he received the Award of Excellence from the Ontario Medical Association’s Section on Palliative Medicine.

Professor Luc Deliens

Luc Deliens, MSc, PhD, is a sociologist and Emeritus Professor of Palliative Care Research and since 2000 the Founding Director of the End-of-Life Care Research Group of the VUB University & Ghent University in Belgium. His research is focused on timely integration of palliative care, interprofessional models of palliative care, public health and palliative care and medical assistance in dying.

Internationally, President of Public Health Palliative Care International, co-chair of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Reference Group on Public Health and Palliative Care, and is involved in various on-going EU funded research projects. He successfully supervised over 60 PhDs and published over 600 papers and over 50 book chapters and received several scientific awards for his scientific work. Luc Deliens is member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.