Lindy Willmott

Lindy Willmott is a Professor of Law at Queensland University of Technology, where she serves in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research within the Faculty of Business and Law. She joined the QUT Law Faculty in 1986 and co-founded the Australian Centre for Health Law Research in 2013 with Professor Ben White, serving as its foundation director until 2018. Currently, she co-leads the Centre's End-of-Life program.

Professor Willmott holds a PhD from QUT, an LLM from the University of Cambridge, and first-class honors in Law and a BCom from the University of Queensland. Her educational background reflects her interdisciplinary approach to health law research.

As an international expert in end-of-life law, Professor Willmott's research focuses on voluntary assisted dying (VAD), advance directives, withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, and broader end-of-life decision-making frameworks. Her work integrates legal, medical, ethical, and social science perspectives to address complex issues at the intersection of law and healthcare. She has been instrumental in shaping VAD legislation across Australia, particularly in Queensland, where her empirical research evaluating VAD operations in earlier adopting states like Victoria has informed regulatory innovations.

Analysis of Professor Willmott's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on practical implementation challenges of end-of-life laws, with particular attention to healthcare professional perspectives, regulatory frameworks, and community understanding. Her research employs diverse methodologies including qualitative interviews, cross-jurisdictional comparisons, and community surveys to generate evidence that directly informs policy and practice.

• Member of the Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board (2022-present)
• Board member of Palliative Care Australia (2013-2020)
• Member of the Queensland Law Reform Commission (in both full-time and part-time capacities)
• Former member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (6 years)

Professor Willmott has successfully secured over $68 million in research funding through interdisciplinary collaborations. She has supervised more than 10 PhD students to completion with 6 current doctoral candidates. Her knowledge translation initiatives include designing mandatory VAD training programs for Victorian, Western Australian, and Queensland governments, developing the End of Life Law for Clinicians resource, and co-authoring the End of Life Law in Australia website. She also contributes to the Commonwealth Government-funded End of Life Directions for Aged Care project, demonstrating her commitment to translating research into practical resources for healthcare providers and the community.