August 2, 2026

History & Politics of Australia’s Telehealth Ban

At the current time in Australia there is much discussion and soul-searching about the ban on ‘Telehealth’ when it comes to voluntary assisted dying.

What is omitted from the debate (that concerns whether or not to overturn the ban) is the history of how this ban came into being, long before the terms ‘telehealth’ and ‘VAD’ (then called voluntary euthanasia) came into common parlance.

The ban on using the Internet, phone, email and fax came about following an amendment to the Australian Criminal Code.

Known as the Suicide Related Materials Offences Act, this change to the Criminal Code was introduced by the conservative government of John Howard.

The bill received the support of Labor in the House of Representatives and passed.

In the Senate, the Greens and the Australian Democrats voted against the bill but they didn’t have the numbers to prevent its passing.

The Australian Councils of Civil Liberties also voiced strong opposition (Terry O’Gorman in Queensland in particular).

The background to the ban is detailed in Exit’s November and December Deliverance newsletters from 2005.

They are a fascinating time capsule!

Exit Under Attack

The amendment was designed to force the closure of Exit International.

It was a gag law designed to silence Exit’s founder, Philip Nitschke.

But it didn’t work.

In response to the bill, Exit launched ‘Go Hang Yourself’ Day and encouraged letter-writing to all MPs.

Back in January 2006 (when the bill was implemented) the Peaceful Pill Handbook was on the cusp of publication in Australia.

A few months later it would be banned on appeal from John Howard’s Attorney General Philip Ruddock.

The Suicide Related Material Offences Act is why the Peaceful Pill eHandbook (online edition) would be published first in the US (where it is protected under the 2nd Amendment) and later in the Netherlands where it also has free speech protection under the Dutch Constitution.

Fact vs Fiction in a Time of Moral Panic

The really crazy thing about the Suicide Related Material Offences Act is that Exit never gave advice on how to die over the phone, email or fax.

But in a climate of moral panic, truth is always the first casualty.

Exit has always been really careful about the dissemination of practical information of a sensitive nature.

That is why all subscribers and purchasers of the Peaceful Pill Handbook have their ID verified.

That is why video ID is required for Exit’s Online Forums.

But at the time Exit was in a cat-and-mouse game with the then Minister for Justice & Customs, Chris Ellison.

A devout Catholic, Ellison was obsessed, also, about Exit plastic bags.

It is with some amusement, now, that Exit watches the hand-wringing of the current Labor government as they try to undo the mess that they, in part, created all these years ago.

Doctors talking about VAD via telehealth? Whats not to like?