Administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance

Appointing the contact person

If you have made an administration decision you must appoint a contact person before the voluntary assisted dying substance can be prescribed by your coordinating doctor. Your contact person has an important role. You should choose someone who you think can handle the responsibility prior to your death and after you die.

Your contact person doesn't need to be present when you administer the substance.

How to appoint a contact person

To appoint a contact person, you must:

• fill in the Contact Person Appointment Form with your contact person
• give the completed Contact Person Appointment Form to your coordinating doctor.

Your coordinating doctor will give you a copy of this form.

You do not need to complete the Contact Person Appointment Form in the presence of your coordinating doctor.

You can choose to change your contact person, or your contact person can refuse to continue in the role. If this happens you will have to appoint a new contact person.

The role of the contact person is different based on whether you make a self-administration or practitioner administration decision.

Self-administration decision

For a self-administration decision your contact person must:

• tell the coordinating doctor when you have died
• if there is any unused or remaining substance, give it to an authorised disposer (pharmacist)
• if asked, provide information to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board (the Review Board).

The Review Board will send your contact person information via email on how to complete their role.

Practitioner administration decision

For a practitioner administration decision your contact person’s role includes:

• telling the coordinating doctor when you die
• if asked, providing information to the Review Board.

Further information

If possible, it would be useful for your contact person to accompany you to an appointment to ask any questions they have.

The following resources are available to help you and your contact person:

• Choosing your contact person (PDF, 314KB)
• Being a contact person (PDF, 336KB)
• Checklist for being a contact person (PDF, 899KB)
• Completing the Contact Person Appointment Form

What happens next

The next step in the process is the prescription of the voluntary assisted dying substance by your coordinating doctor.

In this guide:

1. Administration decision
2. Appointing the contact person
3. Prescription and supply of the voluntary assisted dying substance
4. Administration and death

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