Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995

Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT)
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Long title An Act to confirm the right of a terminally ill person to request assistance from a medically qualified person to voluntarily terminate his or her life in a humane manner; to allow for such assistance to be given in certain circumstances without legal impediment to the person rendering the assistance; to provide procedural protection against the possibility of abuse of the rights recognised by this Act; and for related purposes
Citation	No. 12 of 1995
Territorial extent	Northern Territory
Assented to	16 June 1995
Commenced	1 July 1996
Legislative history
Introduced by	Marshall Perron
First reading	22 February 1995
Second reading	24 May 1995
Third reading	25 May 1995
Passed	25 May 1995
Repealed by
Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (Cth)
Status: Void

The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT)^[1] was a law legalising euthanasia in the Northern Territory of Australia, which was passed by the territory's Legislative Assembly in 1995. The Act was passed by the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on 25 May 1995 by a vote of 15 to 10, received the Administrator's assent on 16 June 1995, and entered into force on 1 July 1996. A year later, a repeal bill was brought before the Northern Territory Parliament in August 1996, but was defeated by 14 votes to 11.^[2]

The effect of the law was nullified in 1997 by the federal Parliament of Australia which passed the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997.^[3] The Act continues on the Territory's statute books, however this was repealed in December 2022 with the passing of Restoring Territory Rights Act. Dr Philip Nitschke founded Exit International in response to the overturning of the Act.

While voluntary euthanasia had previously been condoned officially in the Netherlands and the US state of Oregon, the act was the first time that a legislative assembly passed a law explicitly legalising euthanasia.^[4]