Doctors in WA should be allowed to initiate discussions about voluntary assisted dying with terminally ill patients, a state government-appointed panel has recommended.

A panel tasked with developing guidelines for the legalisation of euthanasia in WA delivered its final report to the state’s Parliament on Thursday, providing 31 recommendations for government to consider.

It said it was largely guided by Victoria’s scheme, which came into effect last week after passing into law in 2017.

But in a drastic departure from the Victorian model, the panel recommended less stringent safeguards to ensure doctors had the freedom to initiate assisted dying discussions with patients without being “burdened by bureaucratic oversight”.