"She was surrounded by love." Kerry Robertson was the first to use Victoria's Assisted Dying Act.

A Bendigo woman has become the first in Victoria to use the state’s newly passed Voluntary Assisted Dying Act to die.

Kerry Robertson had metastatic breast cancer and died on July 15, a month after the law came into force.

The 61-year-old was diagnosed in 2010 and over the years it metastasised into her bones, lungs and brain. She decided to stop treatment this year after the cancer spread to her liver and the side effects of treatment became too hard to manage.

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Her daughters Jacqui Hicks and Nicole Robertson told Go Gentle Australia the process took 26 days to complete.

“It was the empowered death that she wanted,” daughter Jacqui told the website.

“We were there with her; her favourite music was playing in the background and she was surrounded by love.

“She left this world with courage and grace, knowing how much she is loved,” she said.

Kerry had an appointment booked in to see her specialist the day the legislation came into effect, and took the medication the day it was dispensed for use.

“It was quick, she was ready to go. Her body was failing her and she was in incredible pain. She’d been in pain for a long time,” Jacqui said.

"Palliative care did their job as well as they could. But it had been a long battle. She was tired, the pain was intolerable and there was no quality of life left for her," she added.

The Health Minister doesn't expect many people to seek access to voluntary assisted dying in the first year, telling the ABC she predicts a number less than a dozen.

Jenny Mikakos has assured that the process will be made as transparent as possible, and the government will regularly report back to the Voluntary
Assisted Dying Review Board.

The Act passed parliament in 2017 with the support of the Victorian Premier and the majority of his cabinet.

The laws require patients to meet strict criteria to be eligible, for example they must have a terminal illness with no more than six months left to live, or 12 months if it's a degenerative neurological condition.

To be approved, patients must see two doctors who specialise in their illness and make three requests to die.

For the daughters of Kerry Robertson they were pleased their mother was afforded a "compassionate and dignified" end of life option.