Last week the government unveiled $62 million for palliative care over the next five years in an effort to woo Western Victoria upper house MP Simon Ramsay to support the government’s Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation.  The bulk of the funding is expected to be directed outside of Melbourne. 

Of the funding $19 million would be available in the next financial year.

More than $6.3 million of the allocated funding would go to supporting families of people who have accessed voluntary assisted dying, should the legislation pass. 

Palliative Care Victoria chief executive Odette Waanders said while the announcement was a welcome one, it still fell well short of the cash needed to provide equal services across the state. 

She also said the organisation did not believe the $6.35 million for families of voluntary assisted dying users should be considered palliative care funding.  “We need an extra $65 million a year to address the unequal access to palliative care,” Ms Waanders said.  “This is a small stop-gap measure and it's not the sort of solution Victorians need.” 

Debate on the legislation is set to restart on Tuesday, with the bulk of the 141 clauses still to be discussed.

Ballarat-based Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford, who has been a strong supporter of the bill, said the $6.35 million had been included as grief and bereavement support were part of the palliative care offering. 

She said while palliative care services predominantly treated the patient, they also treated family members.

“It’s a modest part of the package to make sure that families supporting someone accessing voluntary assisted dying have the support they need," Ms Pulford said.