The Labor Party will allow MPs a conscience vote on voluntary assisted dying issues, including potentially scrapping the legal ban on using telehealth.

A 2005 amendment to the Criminal Code Act, predating Victoria’s landmark voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws, outlaws “using a carriage service to counsel suicide”, which a Federal Court of Australia case confirmed included VAD.

A successful policy platform amendment passed at Labor’s national conference on Friday said it would remove federal barriers, including telehealth rules, to patients accessing state and territory VAD schemes.

The amendment came from Victorian state MP Ryan Batchelor, who called the ban “inequitable and distressing”.