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Exit International
It is not often that Exit receives ‘nasty' emails but this week we did when we were accused of ‘doing very little for the right to die movement’.
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Understandably, we disagree (& strongly) with this accusation.
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Indeed, we are proud of our track-record over the past 28 years & we are looking forward to an exciting future.
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In this week’s newsletter we ‘blow our own horn’: turning criticism into an opportunity to showcase our work as we stay strong and get stronger!
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If you like what you see, you are invited to:
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Online Webinars & Snippets
Throughout the year, Exit holds regular Online events for Members & Subscribers to the online Peaceful Pill eHandbook.
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Webinars are our long-format online seminar (duration 2 hours). Snippets are our short-format (duration 1 hour).
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Both events cover a range of issues associated with practical, self-help strategies for a reliable & peaceful passing.
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Exit is sometimes asked why we don’t talk about things such as hanging?
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The reason is because we ONLY discuss strategies that fulfill our 'Reliability-Peacefulness Test' (as explained in the Peaceful Pill eHandbook).
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The next Snippet is scheduled for November 12/13. The topic is the ability of AI to answer your end of life questions. Registrations now open
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Exit Workshops
Every year Exit holds in-person Workshops in all Australian capital cities & in London UK.
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Workshops are hosted by Philip Nitschke & focus on the main topics of the self-help right to die debate namely: drugs, gases, substances/ poisons, devices, legals & more.
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Most importantly, Workshops allow participants to ask questions in a private environment that is safe & secure.
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In 2026, a number of European workshops are in the planning. At the current time it is not possible to hold workshops in the US.
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Workshops in Australia are exclusive for Exit Members. In London, current subscribers to the Peaceful Pill eHandbook are also able to attend.
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Exit Books
For the past 20 years, Exit has published the Peaceful Pill eHandbook as the ultimate practical self-help guide to a peaceful & reliable passing.
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Described by the late Derek Humphry as 'a stunning piece of work, truly the definitive scientific encyclopedia of the how-to-die subject’ the book has gone on to become the world’s leading self-help guide.
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The online edition is updated continually while the print edition is updated at least once per year.
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In 2023 Exit published a second book, this time about Going to Switzerland.
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The aim is to guide readers through Swiss bureaucracy and the lived experience of a person (& family) who chooses to seek an assisted suicide in Switzerland.
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Local Chapters / Coffee & Chats
An important part of Exit is our vast network of volunteers.
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This is where Exit members can come together in their local area to get to know others & to learn more about end of life issues.
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Drilling down further, many chapter groups offer even smaller & more local coffee & chat groups in private homes.
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There is always something to get involved with at Exit, especially if you are lucky enough to live in Australia.
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Exit Research & Development
Given Philip Nitschke’s hard-core science background (he has a doctorate in applied physics), it is little surprise that a key focus on Exit International is on research & development.
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The aim of Exit R&D is to devise new, accessible means for people to take control their end of life choices, and to not have to rely on qualifying for medical-model laws with their strict eligibility & reliance on the sanction of the medical profession.
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Over the years Exit has been involved in / responsible for such inventions as:
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These developments take time (& they take money). The work is forever evolving & never-ending!
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Exit’s Online Community
The Exit Forums began life back in 2011. The space was established to enable Exit members to speak with each other, no matter where they lived.
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Back then, it was also hoped that the forums would provide a useful way to address the many questions which time cut short in the course of an Exit workshop.
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That is, if you didn’t get your question answered in the workshop, you could go online and post it in the forums instead.
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And you need not necessarily wait for Philip to answer your question. Because the chances would be that your question had been asked before. If this were the case, others would be able to jump in to help.
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Fifteen years later & the forums are still going strong. Experts including Philip & Sven are kept busy with ensuring that forum members have the correct information.
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Sadly, in 2025, Exit was forced to implement a geo-block for UK members due to the long reach of that country’s new Online Safety Act.
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We live in crazy times when rational adults are prevented from using the Internet to discuss the very important issue of end of life of life choice.
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Speaking Out
There can be no political advocacy without the 4th Estate (ie. the news/press media and, in these times, the 5th Estate - aka the social media).
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This is because, without the media, public education about end of life choices would remain under the radar.
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Besides, how would pressure be brought to bear upon governments/ legislators?
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Without traditional and social media, the work of non profit organisations such as Exit in making the world a better place would be much, much more difficult.
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And what would become of the stakeholders - Exit Members - if the organisation did not engage with the media?
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No one would know of important advances in science/ technology (eg. the Sarco/ Kairos Kollar) as they relate to end of life strategies.
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There can be no dignity ignorance.
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For all these reasons, Exit’s founder Philip Nitschke is always ready to speak out publicly & to engage with the media when he is called upon to do so.
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This has nothing to do with personal ego.
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The right to die issue is bigger than one man alone.
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But here’s the thing. Philip has much to contribute. He says he will be speaking out until his final breath.
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Amsterdam - September 2026
Over the past 20 years Exit has held regular conferences that have been open to the Exit members & the public alike.
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Exit held its first conference in Broken Hill. This outback town was selected because it was the home town of cab driver Max Bell - Suffering from stomach cancer, Max had wanted to be the first person to use the Northern Territory’s Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 1996.
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He drove his cab to Darwin to die. Tragically, he was unable to be helped because Philip could not find the necessary extra doctors to sign his paperwork.
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Instead Max died just as he did not want: in palliative care at Broken Hill Base Hospital.
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Other Exit conferences include: Brisbane (2004), Canberra (2007), Sydney (2008), Melbourne (2016), Toronto (2017) & NuTech (2020).
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The next conference will take place in Amsterdam in September 2026.
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About our Founder
Philip Nitschke is the founder of Exit International. He is a former medical doctor & physicist.
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Born in rural South Australia Philip has spent most of his adult life in the Northern Territory.
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Upon receiving his PhD in applied physics at Flinders University, at 21 he took off for the Australian Outback to work with Aboriginal land rights pioneer, Vincent Lingiari, at Kalkaringi/ Wave Hill Station in Australia’s Tanami Desert.
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Philip would go on to work for many years as a Parks and Wildlife ranger in Central Australia.
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An injury to his foot while on an advance 4-wheel drive training course saw Philip enrol in medicine at Sydney Medical School.
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But nothing could keep him away from Australia’s north. In 1988, he took up a medical officer position at Royal Darwin Hospital.
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It was during this time that Philip ‘accidentally’ became involved in the embryonic Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 1995.
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In 2015 Philip left Australia for the more open-minded environment of the Netherlands. For the past decade he has lived on a houseboat outside of Amsterdam with his wife and their dogs.
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Philip’s life’s work is about ensuring that rational adults have the best & most accurate end of life information so they can have control over their life and death.
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He strongly believes that a good death is a fundamental human right, rather than a medical privilege reserved only for the terminally ill.
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Support Exit
Exit maintains a small core staff of five. Exit is mostly assisted by freelancers.
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There is no central Exit office, instead everyone works remotely.
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Given the small team behind the Exit brand, an enormous amount is achieved internationally.
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If you would like to support the work of Exit you will be warmly welcomed.
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