VAD deaths in Victoria surge 31.6% in 2025-2026

Victoria recorded 512 deaths under the voluntary assisted dying (VAD) program during the 2025-2026 financial year, a 31.6 percent increase from the 389 deaths reported in the previous year. According to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board's annual report, these deaths accounted for 1.1 percent of all deaths in the state. Since VAD became legal in Victoria in 2019, the number of annual deaths has risen from 129 in the 2019-20 period to the current 512.

The report detailed a case from February 2026 where a patient received a lethal dose but died of natural causes in a hospital in April. Two days after that patient's death, the individual's partner took the lethal dose and died. While the Victorian Board stated this incident does not change its assessment of the safety and integrity of the VAD framework, Catholic bishops in Victoria have expressed concern regarding the protection of vulnerable people.

Proposed changes to the law scheduled to take effect in April 2027 are expected to expand access to the program. Since 2019, a total of 2,188 people have ended their lives through the process in Victoria.