Question - ACT Health

Will persons with Dementia who still have decision-making capacity be able to access Voluntary Assisted Dying from 3 November 2025 if the person has been (a) diagnosed with Dementia and (b) has been found to have experienced a decline in function and quality of life and (c) there are no treatments acceptable to them and (d) they consider that they are suffering intolerably, especially in  “anticipation or expectation, based on medical advice, of suffering that will or might be caused by a matter mentioned” in section 11(4)(a) of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2024 and (e) they have expressed to the authorised practitioner that their end-of-life choice is not to live in a state in which they have lost decision-making capacity and experienced specific forms of loss of social, physical, and mental autonomy, which is highly likely to cause distress to themselves and their families; if not, what are the reasons for not granting access to such persons, with reference to the specific part/s of the Act not complied with, as well as any general relevant issues.