Australian bishops denounce surge in Queensland euthanasia cases, urging investment in palliative care and defense of human dignity over death.
Newsroom (01/10/2025, Gaudium Press) A new report has revealed that more Queenslanders are choosing euthanasia under the state’s Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) laws, alarming Catholic leaders who say the rise reflects a failure in care for the vulnerable.
The Queensland VAD Review Board’s 2024–2025 annual report, tabled this month, found 2039 people were assessed for eligibility between July 2024 and June 2025, up 31 per cent from the year before. In that time, 1072 people died through VAD, a 35 per cent increase on the previous year.
Review Board chair Associate Professor Helen Irving noted that increasing demand was straining the system. “Increasing awareness of voluntary assisted dying remains a priority for the review board, and we recommend Queensland Health promotes education and guidance materials to support healthcare workers,” she said.
But Catholic leaders in Australia voiced grave concern. Bishop Tim Harris of Townsville condemned the trend as “state-sanctioned suicide.”
“This fact is not to be celebrated but condemned, especially when the state has chosen to go down this path,” Bishop Harris told The Catholic Leader. “Adequate funding for palliative care still has not been addressed, and if it was, with the proper education, VAD would not have seen the light of day. Humanity deserves better.”
Calls for care over killing
The Church’s critique of euthanasia has deepened as the numbers rise. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the report was a sobering warning about the way society views human suffering.
“When our culture decides that the answer to suffering is to eliminate the sufferer, something fundamental has been lost,” Archbishop Coleridge said in a statement. “We should be investing in life-affirming care, not expanding access to death.”
The Archdiocese of Sydney also added its voice, with Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, chair of the Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement, stressing that Queensland’s figures highlight unmet needs in end-of-life care.
“These numbers only confirm what we feared,” Archbishop Fisher said. “People are choosing euthanasia not because they want to die, but because they lack adequate support in living through their final days with dignity. The Church will always insist that true compassion means standing beside people in suffering, not ending their lives.”
National and global concern
Pope Leo XIV has likewise raised concerns about the spread of euthanasia laws across the Western world, including France and Australia. “Our world struggles to find value in human life, even in its final hour,” he told pilgrims in Rome earlier this year. “May the Spirit of the Lord enlighten our minds, so that we may defend the intrinsic dignity of every human person.”
Bishop Harris echoed those words: “The inherent dignity of every human being is never respected when VAD is applied,” he said.
“A challenge to conscience”
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has consistently urged governments to redirect resources into palliative care rather than pushing euthanasia. Bishop Vincent Long of Parramatta, who has worked extensively with migrant communities, said the trend should concern Australians far beyond the Catholic Church.
“This is not an issue only for the Church. It is about what kind of society we want to build,” Bishop Long told media this week. “Do we want a society that upholds life and accompanies people with compassion, or one that sees killing as a quick and easy solution?”
As the Queensland review board considers changes to VAD safeguards after a man ingested his spouse’s unused euthanasia drugs, Catholic leaders are urging caution and conscience.
“The figures expose a stark choice,” Archbishop Coleridge said. “We can normalize death as an instrument of policy, or we can redouble our commitment to care. For Catholics, and for all who value human dignity, the choice ought to be clear.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Catholic Leader
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