Latest news: Territory rights

Shadow Attorney-General Senator Michaelia Cash introduced a private senators’ bill to overturn the ACT's drug decriminalisation laws

Sitting in the Senate chamber last Thursday listening to powerful speeches in support from across political lines, it felt like the weight of history was on our side.

The ACT and Northern Territory will be able to make laws on voluntary assisted dying for the first time in a quarter-century in what's being hailed as a historic moment.

A bill that would allow territories to create laws on voluntary assisted dying will face a Senate vote this parliamentary fortnight, the government promises.

A vote on a bill to remove the ban on territories from legislating for voluntary euthanasia is expected by the end of the year, the Senate has heard.

A proposal to restore territory rights is one step closer after a bill passed federal parliament's lower house on Wednesday.

Alicia Payne MP and NT colleague Luke Gosling today introduced a bill to allow the ACT to legislate on assisted dying.

Residents in the ACT and NT will no longer be "second-class citizens" with Member for Canberra Alicia Payne MP planning to co-sponsor a private member's bill to repeal the Howard-era Andrews bill when parliament resumes later this month.