Victoria's parliament has voted to launch an inquiry into end of life issues and palliative care.
The upper house decided on the action on Thursday after an original bid to hand the task to the Victorian Law Reform Commission failed to get up.
Member for Western Metropolitan Rachel Carling-Jenkins said it was a great result for the care of the terminally ill.
"Recent end-of-life debates in the Victorian Parliament have focused solely upon euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, such debate is not central to the provision of care to the dying and never will be," she said.
Greens, Labor and Liberal MPs joined the Sex Party, the Shooters and Fishers, and the Democratic Labour Party to vote for the motion.
"Voluntary euthanasia is at the heart of any inquiry into end-of-life choices, and we are proud to have delivered this significant step forward," Green MP Colleen Hartland said on Thursday.
Sex Party MP Fiona Patten said having the support from MPs at wildly different ends of the political spectrum showed the inquiry would be fruitful.
"It's grown into something bigger, it's now a whole end-of-life inquiry," she said.
"We're looking at advanced directives, we're looking at palliative care, we're looking at dying with dignity."
The inquiry will deliver a report back to the parliament by the end of March next year.
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