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A new "elective death unit" should be set up at a Canberra hospital to allow people could voluntarily end their life pain-free, the ACT branch of Dying with Dignity has told territory legislators. Dying with Dignity's Jeanne Arthur was among witnesses to give evidence before the Assembly's End of Life Select Committee on Thursday. The inquiry has already received hundreds of submissions from people, community and religious organisations arguing for and against allowing assisted deaths to occur in the ACT. Ms Arthur told the inquiry a unit could be set up at a local hospital that would have a supply of medicines for assisted dying, which patients facing terminal illnesses could access through a referral from their general practitioner. She said the DWD branch understood more than 50 per cent of people ending their life did so by hanging, but she had also heard stories of some people using guns to end their life "in the most horrible and gruesome ways". Ms Arthur said an official medical unit that helped people end their life would present an alternative to such violent methods, and while it was a "very very difficult" proposal to make, dying with dignity should not be treated as a taboo subject. "No-one talked about sex in the past, but now you can't go and talk to your doctor about the fact you want to die, [because] you put the doctor in a compromising position," she said. "You can't talk to your relatives because they [say] 'oh no you can't die'; how can you talk to anyone about wanting to die if everyone is absolutely committed to you living?" But she said she believed that after someone had gone through the steps of talking to their doctor about it, and receiving counselling, very few would actually proceed to the unit to end their life. The organisation's submission said the unit would provide any adult ACT citizen with an "elective death" after the person had provided a reason for the wish of death, received offers of help through counselling and met a designated "cooling off period" negotiated with the individual concerned. It said authorities would respect both a decision to die, as well as a decision to live, by the person seeking the services of the unit. While Commonwealth laws prevent territory legislators from passing laws to allow assisted dying, the ACT government has argued that law, driven by federal Liberal MP Kevin Andrews, should be overturned to allow the territory Assembly to decide the issue itself. The hearing on Thursday also heard from representatives of Dementia Australia's ACT branch, who supported allowing people to have the choice to end their own life, but did not advocate a specific position either way. Hearings continue on Friday, with a report expected from the inquiry committee by the end of 2018. If this report has raised any concerns for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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