Andrew Denton investigates the stories behind Victoria’s landmark Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) law: Who seeks to use it, and why? Who are the doctors stepping forward to help them? And how does the Church continue to resist a law it describes as ‘evil’?

Co-produced by Go Gentle Australia and the Wheeler Centre, season two of Better Off Dead looks at what happened in Victoria after the legislation came into effect in June 2019.

‘It’s not an easy process. But neither should it be. This is the ending of a life. And it ought to be treated in a serious manner – because it's a serious thing to do.’ – Former Supreme Court Justice, Betty King, now Chair of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board.

Please note: this podcast is not about suicide. If you are interested in increasing your understanding of suicide and how to support someone experiencing suicidal ideation, visit Conversations Matter or BeyondBlue.

If you (or someone you know) require immediate assistance, contact one of the following 24/7 crisis support services: Lifeline (13 11 14), Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467), MensLine (1300 78 99 78), beyondblue (1300 22 4636), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or eheadspace (1800 650 890).

In this episode

In order of appearance: Andrew Denton, Katie Harley, Dr Kristin Cornell, Jean Caliste, Dr Greg Mewett, Dr Cameron McLaren, Professor Michael Dooley, Former Justice Betty King QC, Molly Carlile AM, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Dr Andrea Bendrups, Lisa Hogg.

Better Off Dead  season two is produced by the Wheeler Centre and Go Gentle Australia 

Writer, Co-Producer and Host: Andrew Denton (Go Gentle Australia) 
Series Co-Producer and Script Editor: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton (The Wheeler Centre) 
Associate Producers: Kiki Paul and Steve Offner (Go Gentle Australia) 
Audio Editor and Engineer: Martin Peralta 
Production Assistant: Alex Gow (The Wheeler Centre)

Marketing: Emily Harms (The Wheeler Centre), Steve Offner (Go Gentle Australia) and Frankie Bennett (Go Gentle Australia)  
Publicity: Debbie McInnes (DMCPR Media) 
Episode Pages: Mia McAuslan (The Wheeler Centre) 
Commissioning Editors: Kiki Paul (Go Gentle Australia) and Caro Llewellyn (The Wheeler Centre) 
Theme music: ‘Loydie’s Angel’, written and performed by Jordan Laser

Listen to Better Off Dead season one here, and subscribe in iTunes, or via your favourite podcast app. 

#BetterOffDeadpod

Your Stories

If…

Art: Kate Banazi

Across three episodes, we’re bringing you a special audio edition of Notes, the Wheeler Centre’s digital publishing series. For this edition, participants in our 2020 podcast development programme, Signal Boost have created audio stories around the theme 'Order'. 

It’s a word that brings to mind structure, organisation, command or subjugation. Think: the natural order, alphabetical order, out of order. It’s a title, descriptor, an alternative. A holy order, a tall order, or law and order? It can be a direction, or a request. Get your house in order. Take your marching orders.

In this episode, Maddi Miller delves into the hidden stratigraphy of Melbourne.