Lynda Cracknell

Lynda Fay Cracknell (20 March 1945—) was the founding member and President of the Northern Territory Voluntary Euthanasia Society from 1995 to 1997. 

Born Lynda Stevens in Dorrigo, New South Wales, Cracknell attended Prahran Technical College, gaining a Diploma in Data Processing in 1965. She met Alan Cracknell when they both worked at the Australian computer company Control Data. They married in 1972, living first in New Zealand before moving to Sydney, and then north to Darwin in 1982 (A. Cracknell, n.d.). Cracknell accepted employment with the Northern Territory Government, and would stay with them for the next 15 years (L. Cracknell, n.d.[a]).

Cracknell was moved by Marshall Perron's introduction of the Rights of the Terminally Ill bill in the Northern Territory, and called for a meeting of supporters in a letter that was published in the NT News. In organising the pro-VE campaign she was elected the foundation President of the NT Voluntary Euthanasia Society. At the time, Cracknell was still employed as a Policy Advisor to the Northern Territory Treasury; however, after realising that the demands of organising the pro-euthanasia campaign would be too much, she took leave for three months over the most intensive March-May 1995 lobbying (L. Cracknell, n.d.[b]). 

In a personal submission to the Victorian government as it considered legalising voluntary euthanasia, Cracknell said of her convictions:

"I listened to many arguments both for and against [voluntary euthanasia], and listened to many personal stories of those who had experienced the bad death of a loved one, or who were themselves dying and begging for a lawful means to end their life. I didn’t then have any motivation for my activism other than a strong feeling that it just made sense. It was logical that we shouldn’t force the dying to experience pain and suffering if they wanted to escape a little earlier by an assisted and easier death. Too many were resorting to suicide by horrific means." (Victorian Health Committee, 2019; submission no. 1334).

In 1997 Cracknell took early retirement, and moved with her husband to Adelaide. In 2003 they eventually settled in Bundaberg, Queensland. Alan died in 2012, aged 82. 

Cracknell, A. [n.d.]. Alan Cracknell's home page. Bundy-Cracknells. http://www.bundy-cracknells.com/AlanCracknell.html

Cracknell, L. [n.d.][a]. Curriculum vitae. Bundy-Cracknells. http://www.bundy-cracknells.com/resume

Cracknell, L. [n.d.][b]. Legalising Voluntary Euthanasia. Bundy-Cracknells. http://www.bundy-cracknells.com/LegalisingVE.html

Victorian Health Committee. (2019). Inquiry into Aged Care, End-of-Life and Palliative Care, and Voluntary Assisted Dying. https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/com/HCDSDFVPC-48D8/RN333456PI-4F5A/submissions/00000025.pdf