Frances has a teaching background and has been President of VADSA since 2001, joining the committee since 1992. Frances has been there when all 17 VAD Bills were tabled in the SA Parliament. Frances organised information tables on the Parliament steps, in the town centre mall, regional areas and libraries, where letters of support for VAD were written by constituents to their local MP. Frances will continue to advocate for improvements to our law to achieve equity and unconditional compassion.
Julia joined VADSA in 1996 while undertaking an Honours thesis on voluntary assisted dying. Julia is a post-doctoral Research Fellow with a primary interest in health equity. Voluntary assisted dying is guided by the principles of autonomy and compassion but is also a critical health equity issue. Achieving greater equity in access to voluntary assisted dying is the main reason for her ongoing advocacy.
After a career in agriculture, international development and politics, Anne joined the VADSA team to support their legislative reform agenda. Anne uses her policy development background and commitment to social justice in her ongoing advocacy for VAD at the local, national and global level. Anne represents the region as Secretary of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
Sue McCoy is a retired medical practitioner who joined VADSA for a specific reason: she does not want to end up in a nursing home if she becomes demented, being fed, humoured and cleaned up until some other terminal event determines her demise. She would rather have a dignified death in a manner and at a time of her choosing, clearly dictated in advance by firm directive. Sue will continue to campaign for amendments to the law.
Jo has worked in various areas of administration for over 40 years, predominantly in emergency services and health services. Jo joined the committee in 2018 in order to support change and offer more choices for end of life. Jo is also active in her local community in several volunteer roles.
After a career in telecommunications and sitting on a number of Disability Services Boards, Elice became a member of VADSA. After about ten years of ‘idle’ membership, she took up the position of Membership Officer. Elice remains a strong advocate for the disenfranchised members of our community, both young and the elderly.
Assistance to die should be a normal component of medical practice. At one extreme, it is warranted by the extraordinary distress people suffer from disorders with no adequate treatment. At the other extreme, it arises as a compassionate response to situations where a person is living, but does not have 'a life'. Both of these situations can easily be understood by asking oneself, "what would I want for myself in such situations?".