Cases were included only when the investigating coroner noted the deceased's condition was a likely contributing factor to their intention to self-harm. Loading A Queensland inquiry is examining aged, end-of-life and palliative care. Victoria's voluntary euthanasia scheme came into effect on June 19, with 11 people granted access to date, while Western Australian politicians began debating similar laws. Clem Jones Trust chair David Muir said the figures highlighted the urgency of moving swiftly on law reform in Queensland.

"The data indicates the damage done by the policy vacuum on voluntary euthanasia law reform, which means people are killing themselves in a horrible, lonely way," he said. Loading "Queensland needs to play catchup but the thing that is most horrific about all this is that any delay is going to cause more carnage in this space." Mr Muir said the data underlined the need for safeguards. "At the moment there are no safeguards because people are taking matters into their own hands by these terrible suicides; we have terminal sedation," he said.

"The irony is that critics always talk about, 'oh yes, we're worried about the safeguards', but the grim reality is that this law will bring in safeguards that presently don't exist." Loading More than 70 per cent of people who died in Queensland of intentional self-harm while suffering from a terminal or debilitating physical condition were male and 80 per cent were aged 51 or older. About half lived in major cities, while the remainder were in regional or remote areas of Queensland. In Queensland, there were 78 deaths which matched the conditions in 2016 and 90 in 2017.

At the Victorian inquiry into end-of-life choices in 2015, coroner John Olle detailed several cases where desperate people found ways to take their own lives, in an often traumatic manner, after suffering from terminal conditions. Earlier this month, the closure of Gold Coast retirement home Earle Haven was added to the scope of the Queensland inquiry. As a result, the deadline was extended from November to March next year to give the health committee conducting the inquiry more time to report back to Parliament. Mr Muir urged the health committee to still report back on euthanasia by the end of November, to provide time for a potential bill to be drafted, debated and passed via a conscience vote before the October 2020 state election. "While the health committee may need extra time because of its workload, I worry that if it reports in March, then the government may drag its feet and take no action in this term," he said.