Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 20 April
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
CHANGE OF VENUE
Due to forecast weather conditions, we have relocated this event to The Wheeler Centre. For information on accessing the Wheeler Centre, please see here.
If you have booked tickets to this event, please retain your current tickets and present them at the Wheeler Centre. Please be aware that the new seating arrangement will be general admission theatre style with unreserved seating. The doors will open at 6pm for a 6.30pm start.
For years, the topic of Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) has sent moral and ethical ripples through Australian political, civil and personal debate. Since VAD legislation came into effect in Victoria in June 2019, more than one hundred people have received legal and medical assistance to die.
In this important panel discussion at the Malthouse Outdoor Stage, we’ll hear from medical and legal experts and those whose lives are impacted by the controversial legislation, including broadcaster and VAD advocate Andrew Denton, The Hon. Betty King QC, Chair of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board and oncologist Dr Phillip Parente.. Hot on the tail of the second season of Denton’s podcast, Better Off Dead (co-produced by Go Gentle Australia and the Wheeler Centre), they’ll discuss the personal, political and societal dimensions of VAD, the impact of the Victorian legislation, and the current and future status of VAD across the country. Hosted by Paul Barclay.
Content warning: This event includes discussion of death, euthanasia and terminal illness. This event is not about suicide. If you are interested in increasing your understanding of suicide and how to support someone experiencing suicidal ideation, visit the Conversations Matter or beyondblue websites.
Presented in partnership with Malthouse Outdoor Stage
Featuring
Andrew Denton
Andrew Denton is widely recognised as one of Australian media's genuinely creative forces.
Andrew’s television career takes in his groundbreaking early work on the ABC – Blah Blah Blah, The Money or The Gun, Live & Sweaty – through to his unforgettable reworking of television’s ‘night of nights’ the Logies; his role as Executive Producer of Election Chaser and CNNNN; his work hosting and producing the hugely successful Enough Rope and as the Executive Producer of The Gruen Transfer, Gruen Nation, Hungry Beast, 30 Seconds, AFP, Can of Worms, Randling and Joy of Sets. In 2016, Andrew founded Go Gentle Australia to advocate for better end of life choices in Australia.
Betty King
Justice Betty King QC is Chairperson of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board and a former judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Her Honour joined the Victorian Bar in 1975 and practised in the criminal jurisdictions for both defence and prosecution. She was a Prosecutor for the Queen for the State of Victoria from 1986 until her appointment as the first Prosecutor for the Queen for the Commonwealth in 1989.
In 1992 she was appointed Queen’s Counsel. She became a judge of the County Court of Victoria in 2000 and a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2005 until her retirement in 2015.
Phillip Parente
A/Prof Phillip Parente trained at Monash University graduating with First Class Honours in 1993. His current role is the Director of Cancer Services Eastern Health. His main areas of interest are Genitourinary Cancers, Lung Cancers and Melanoma and he is considered a clinical lead in these areas of oncology. With respect to oncology research he is principal investigator of numerous trials in his areas of interest. This has translated to numerous publications and presentations at local and international oncological conferences.
A/Prof Phillip Parente trained at Monash University graduating with First Class Honours in 1993. He completed training in Medical Oncology 2001 and completed a two year Fellowship in Immunology and Melanoma at Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at Austin Health. Initially he worked as a Medical Oncologist at both Eastern Health and Austin Health. His current role is the Director of Cancer Services Eastern Health
His main areas of interest are Genitourinary Cancers, Lung Cancers and Melanoma and he is considered a clinical lead in these areas of oncology. With respect to oncology research he is principal investigator of numerous trials in his areas of interest. This has translated to numerous publications and presentations at local and international oncological conferences.
Parente has professional interest in teaching and training. He is a senior member of the National Examining Panel for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and past chair Advanced Trainee Committee Medical Oncology for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He is also the current Treasurer and Executive Committee Member of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia, (MOGA).
Parente has completed a Master of Health and Medical Law in 2020 and currently completing a Master of Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law, Melbourne University.
Paul Barclay
Paul Barclay is a Walkley Award winning journalist and broadcaster with an appetite for ideas and in-depth analysis and discussion. Paul has produced countless stories over more than 20 years for an array of programs ...
Ron Poole
Ron Poole (77) lived in Shepparton and had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He elected to pursue Voluntary Assisted Dying after receiving a prognosis of less than 6 months left to live.
‘It will come to that stage where I won’t be able to breathe properly by myself, I will just be puffing, puffing, puffing, 24 hours a day. Should the time come, I can phone up the doctor and say: “Righto, time to die.” It’s given me peace of mind, knowing that.’