How long does Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) take?

If you’re reading this, then chances are you’re someone who is thinking about choosing the time and manner of your own death, or you’re supporting someone who may be terribly unwell and considering Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) as an option.

Either way, I’m sorry.

Let’s be clear, there’s no nice way of putting it.

Dying sucks.

And I’m pretty sure nobody is lining up for a terminal diagnosis or circumstances where VAD becomes a potential option.

But when the chips are down, and treatment options have been exhausted, for eligible people living with an advanced illness, VAD offers the possibility of choosing the time and manner of their death.

The number one question when it comes to VAD seems to be: How long does it take?

And the simple (yet annoying) answer is, it takes as long as it takes.

When someone asks “How long does VAD take?”, they can be asking a few different questions.

How long does it take to go through the Voluntary Assisted Dying application process?

How long is it between being approved for VAD and dying?

Or sometimes - and this is often the question sitting underneath the other questions - how long does it take to die after the VAD medication is taken?

I’ll do my best to answer all three.

When VAD becomes real possibility, time becomes strangely visceral.

There can be a lot of waiting. Waiting for paperwork and appointments. Waiting for assessments. Waiting for decisions. Waiting until the person decides they're ready. And then, eventually, there may be a room full of people acutely aware that there isn't much waiting left.

So. Let's talk about time and timelines.

How long does the VAD application process take?

In NSW, according to NSW Health's 2024-25 Annual Report the median time from a person's first VAD request to authorisation of the VAD medication was 11 days. The median time from first request to death following administration of the VAD medication was 20 days.

(If your math is a little like mine – rusty at the best of times – a reminder that median means half of those people took less than 20 days, and half took longer.)

Perhaps more importantly, 20 days isn't a standard VAD timeframe. NSW Health doesn't currently publish an average or a shortest-to-longest range for this measure, so this statistic can't tell you whether your own experience is likely to take 10 days, 20 days or potentially, considerably longer.

Across Australia, each state and territory operates under its own VAD legislation and processes, and reports its data differently. Importantly, the timeframes they suggest on their websites are neither a deadline or a promise – every person moves through VAD differently, with the time involved dependent on their particular circumstances.

Voluntary Assisted Dying is a deliberately rigorous process. There are safeguards, assessments and decisions built into it for good reason.

But within those guardrails there is also the human experience, and the very real potential that the person moving through them is living with a terminal illness which is likely causing great pain and suffering. Not only for them, but for the people who love them and who may be witness to that suffering.

People seeking assisted dying may understandably feel urgency, with a need to exercise autonomy over a body and illness that may be running on its own timetable.

How long does it take between approval and taking the VAD medication?

TLDR: There's no set time – have it immediately once it’s available, take it when you want, or don’t take it at all.

Depending on your particular circumstances (that old chestnut) and the state or territory you’re in, will depend on whether the medication is self-administered or administered by a clinician. There’s no obligation to wait once everything is ready, but equally there is absolutely no obligation to proceed at all.

What happens in the time in between applying for VAD and approval being given?

While paperwork is completed, appointments scheduled and assessments undertaken, life continues. There may still be conversations with family and loved ones to be had, moments to share, memories to make and things that matter deeply.

I understand that when you or your loved one is seriously unwell, even a simple conversation or just getting through the day can be so tough. There’s no expectation to make this time productive or meaningful.

But while this time in between can be simultaneously precious and hellish, if you’re able and want to, it may be an opportunity to:

Plan the day itself - where you want to be, who you want there, music, food, flowers, pets, rituals, plus anything you absolutely don't want. (As an aside, I'm always delighted by how wonderfully different and specific people's wishes for their last day can be.)

Have the conversations you may have been putting off - say I love you, I'm sorry, thank you, I forgive you, please stop putting coriander in everything. Or say nothing at all if nothing needs saying.

Capture stories and memories - record your voice, write letters, make videos, tell the stories only you know, create something for children or grandchildren.

Cover off the practical stuff - what happens immediately afterwards, funeral or cremation wishes, who needs to be called, what happens to your body, belongings, digital life, pets.

Create something special - a living wake, farewell gathering, special playlist, family ritual, celebration or simply having particular people come and sit with you.

Make space for the people you love - not just logistically, but emotionally. What does each person understand about what's going to happen? What are they frightened of? What do they need from you - and from each other? Are they on the same page with you, or do they need support to understand the VAD decision?

Think about after - what you want your people to know or have when you're gone. Letters for birthdays. Recipes. Voice recordings. Stories. Instructions for florists or other ways to remember your loved ones from beyond the grave. Ridiculous family secrets that finally need explaining.

Do absolutely fuck-all meaningful with some (or all) of it. Binge watch some hideous reality program. Complain about the neighbours. Eat something delicious. Sit in the sun. Death doesn't impose an obligation to turn your remaining life into a profound cinematic montage.

How long does it take from administering the VAD medication until death?

And now, the question beneath the questions. 

When it comes to administration of the VAD medication and death itself, the timeframe is generally (mercifully) much shorter than the process leading up to it.

Let me be super clear. I'm not a clinician, I'm not attempting to explain pharmacology, and I'm certainly not describing any specific medication. This is from one layperson to another.

While the actual VAD medication given will differ across states and territories, and according to individual circumstances, the medication itself is generally intended to bring about unconsciousness – a state that can look much like a deep sleep – before breathing and the heart stop. Many people who have witnessed the VAD death of a loved one describe the experience as peaceful and quiet.

Your VAD team can explain what to expect from the medication and the dying process in your particular circumstances.

In most cases, the time between administration and death can be measured in minutes rather than hours. But this isn’t guaranteed. Some people may take longer, and it’s important that those present understand what may happen, and what, if anything may be asked of them.

For the people who may gather in that room, though, those minutes may feel very different from the days and weeks spent getting there. That’s the strange thing that VAD does – it makes time visible.

Most of us don't know when we're going to die.

We behave as though there will always be another Christmas, another birthday, another ordinary Tuesday to say the thing we should have said, or to get around to the things we’ve always wanted to do. (In my case there’s always another Monday to start a new diet.🙄)

VAD can give us the possibility of knowing the date we will die. Suddenly time isn’t abstract anymore – it’s finite.

That can be frightening. Heartbreaking. An incredible relief. It can give people an opportunity to decide what they want to do with the final time that's theirs. Often, for people with advanced illness it’s enough to know they have the option of assisted dying available to them. Not everyone who is approved for VAD chooses to use it.

So, how long does VAD take?

The statistics can give us medians and averages. The legislation can give us processes and safeguards. Your VAD team can give you a much better idea of what the timeframe might look like in your particular circumstances.

But none of those things can tell you exactly how your experience will unfold.

Maybe the more important question isn't only how long will VAD take?

Perhaps it's also, what can be done with the time in between? 🚀