On Monday, July 20th, 2026, at the Queen's Terrace Cafe in Parliament House, Canberra, local family members Jason and Anthea Smith, along with their adult children Georgia and Brae, voiced support for Go Gentle's campaign to amend a federal law restricting telehealth use in voluntary assisted dying (VAD) consultations.

Go Gentle, founded in 2016, seeks to change legislation that threatens doctors with a $300,000 fine and a criminal record if they use electronic communications such as the internet or phone to discuss VAD matters. Although telehealth is an established part of healthcare and state health ministers, attorneys-general, and the Australian Medical Association have called for reform, the federal government has not changed its stance.

This ban forces dying patients to travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres multiple times to see a doctor in person to access their legal right to VAD or to endure prolonged waits hoping a doctor can visit them. Jason Smith, who uses an electric wheelchair and requires a Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) mask to breathe, exemplifies the challenges faced.

Opponents of VAD, including the Catholic Church—the largest non-governmental healthcare provider in Australia—argue that powerful drugs can manage end-of-life pain and that VAD is an "intrinsically evil act … that no end can justify." They also emphasize Christian beliefs that uniting suffering with that of Christ builds virtue and meaning.

Jason and his family, alongside Go Gentle, advocate for better support to help people through the dying process so they "will not necessarily need to take their own life."

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