SA is planning to bring forward the start of its voluntary euthanasia scheme. 

The laws were set to come into effect in March 2023, 22 months after they passed parliament, but the state’s new Labor Government says it plans to bring the state's voluntary euthanasia law's implementation date forward from March to January 2023.

But some euthanasia campaigners argue that time frame is still too slow. 

Voluntary Assisted Dying South Australia president Frances Coombe says people need the choice.

“I do get distress calls nearly every week from people who are wanting to know the day when the law is going to be activated,” Ms Coombe says.

“They're desperate people, so now they're effectively being forced to suffer or are forced to take their own lives.

“The convener of our nurse's advocacy group has said that she knows people who have taken their own lives because they don't have this choice.”

SA Health Minister Chris Picton says he will do all he can to expedite the rollout date.

“We can at least bring that forward to the end of January, but if we can explore any avenue where we can bring that forward even more, we will absolutely do so,” he said. 

The slow pace is due to how South Australia's laws came about, he claimed. 

“It was [then-shadow attorney-general] Kyam Maher, who was in the opposition at the time, putting this forward as a private member's bill,” Mr Picton said.

“Once the bill was passed, there wasn't anything in place from the then-government's end to start that implementation work, and it took another six months before that was being put in place.”