Information to include in an advance health directive

If you do not have an advance health directive and become so ill you cannot make decisions or speak for yourself, you have no legal way of making your wishes known about when to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining measures.

By making an advance health directive you can specify what treatment you would like to have or you would like to refuse if you become seriously ill, unconscious, or are no longer able to make your own decisions, and are unable to communicate your health care wishes.

Medical staff will refer to your directive if you can no longer make decisions for yourself. However, doctors have the ability to disregard a direction if it is uncertain, inconsistent with good medical practice or no longer appropriate because circumstances have changed.

You can express your wishes in a general way. For example, you can state:

• particular treatment you do not want
• special medical conditions that your doctor or other medical staff should know about (such as diabetes or allergy to certain medications)
• religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs that could affect your treatment (such as if you have particular views about receiving a blood transfusion).

Life-sustaining measures

You can give specific instructions about the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining measures if you have one of the medical conditions listed below:

• you have a terminal illness for which there is no known cure or there is no possibility that you will recover; and doctors believe you have only 12 months or less to live. (While this is written in the law, medical opinions differ as to what a terminal illness is and how long it is predicted to last.)
• you are in a persistent vegetative state. This means you have severe and irreversible brain damage with some other characteristics
• you are permanently unconscious from severe brain damage
• you have an illness or injury that is so severe that there is no reasonable prospect that you will recover and be able to live without continuing life sustaining measures.

Examples of life-sustaining measures include:

• cardiopulmonary resuscitation to keep your heart beating
• assisted ventilation to keep you breathing
• being fed food and water through a tube directly into the stomach.

Palliative care

You can also specify your wishes about palliative care which offers comfort, support and adequate pain relief to people who are dying - even if treatment is futile or a life sustaining measure is withheld or withdrawn.

Euthansia

Euthanasia is illegal. Nobody, including your doctor may give you anything that is intended to actively cause your death.

Your doctor can only give treatment that aims to maintain or improve your health and wellbeing. If treatment cannot achieve this, a doctor can lawfully and ethically withdraw or withhold treatment provided this is not inconsistent with good medical practice. This is not euthanasia. In your directive, you can ask to be given only palliative care.

Combination with an enduring power of attorney

There are advantages to having both an advance health directive and an attorney for personal matters. If you become so ill that your directive is in force but doesn’t cover all the health conditions you suffer, then your attorney can make decisions on your behalf and in your best interests.

If you haven’t appointed an attorney for personal or health matters under an enduring power of attorney, the advance health directive form  (PDF file 273.4 KB) contains a section for appointing one.