Abstract
Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has been established across seven of Australia’s eight states and territories, yet empirical research on public attitudes remains limited. The current study examined Australians’ attitudes towards VAD. A cross-sectional online survey assessed affective, behavioural, and cognitive components, as well as overall attitudes, with 704 Australian adults. Attitudes were broadly supportive of VAD but conditional. Most participants endorsed end-of-life choices, legalisation of VAD, and access to VAD in cases of physical illness, and opposed availability for those with mental illness, and existential suffering. Participants with religious affiliations held significantly less favourable attitudes. Females and those with experience of euthanasia or VAD had significantly more favourable attitudes towards VAD. Education effects were small and mixed, and age was unrelated to overall attitudes. Findings provide the first large-scale, multidimensional assessment of Australians’ public attitudes towards VAD and may be used to inform legislative policy and guide healthcare practices.
Keywords
attitudes, eligibility, end of life, voluntary assisted dying
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
E-ISSN
15413764
ISSN
00302228
Publication Title
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
101920
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gringart, E., Phillips, C., & Drake, D. (2026). Community attitudes towards voluntary assisted dying: Beyond endorsed eligibilities. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228261475233