The Australian doctor who advocates voluntary euthanasia is likely to face action over plans to hold assisted suicide workshops in New Zealand.

The Medical Council plans to inform the Ministry of Health that it believes Dr Philip Nitschke, dubbed Dr Death, may practice medicine without a licence when he runs the courses in Auckland next month. Two workshops are planned for members of Exit International and the New Zealand Voluntary Euthanasia Society.

The registrar of the Medical Council has contacted Dr Nitschke in Switzerland, but Nitschke maintains all he will be talking about during his visit, are details of services offered in Switzerland (where assisted suicide is legal) and other legal alternatives.

He has been the target of previous warnings from the New Zealand Medical Council over the workshops.

Dr Nitschke supported Lesley Martin, the Wanganui euthanasia campaigner who completed half of a 15-month sentence for attempting to murder her mother Joy Martin with a morphine overdose.