Deaths from assisted suicide and euthanasia have increased by 63.82% in a single year in Western Australia, as 480 people, representing 2.6% of all deaths in the region, ended their lives in this way.
Reporting on data from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, the recently released annual report shows a sharp rise in the number of people ending their lives by euthanasia and assisted suicide in Western Australia, increasing from 293 in 2023-24 to 480 in 2024-25. The number of deaths from euthanasia and assisted suicide as a proportion of all deaths also increased from 1.6% in 2023-24 to 2.6% in 2024-25.
Since July 2021, when euthanasia and assisted suicide were made available, a total of 1,219 people have ended their lives by assisted suicide and euthanasia in Western Australia, and the number of people who have ended their lives in this way has increased by 151.31% from its first year in 2021-22 until 2024-25.
Of the 480 deaths in 2024-25, 29 (6%) were instances of assisted suicide, where the person who wishes to die ingests or otherwise takes the lethal substance themselves, and 451 (94%) were instances of euthanasia, where a medical practitioner administers the lethal substance to the patient to end their lives.
1 in 3 cite being a burden as a reason for ending their lives
Since assisted dying was made available in Western Australia in July 2021, 33% of those who gave a reason for ending their lives in this way did so because they believed they were a “burden on family, friends/caregivers”, or were concerned about being a burden; 68.8% said they were ended their lives because they were “less able to engage in activities making life enjoyable”; and 55.9% cited “loss of dignity, or concern about it”.
The annual report also reveals that, in 2024-25, the median number of days between First Request for assisted dying and death, following administration of the lethal substance, was 24 days, and following euthanasia by oral ingestion or assisted ingestion via PEG or NG tube, death took up to 4 hours 44 minutes.
Furthermore, there was a 4% recorded complication rate, which included regurgitation/vomiting in three cases and one instance of someone suffering a seizure.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Sadly, as in other jurisdictions, once assisted dying is made legal, often more people become victims of it every year. Shockingly, one in three people has ended their lives in Western Australia after citing concerns about being a burden among their reasons. It is an utterly damning indictment of Western Australia that people who are concerned about such things are offered death rather than support, encouragement, love and the reminder that being a burden need not be a bad thing”.
