Legal Mandates To Your Health Proxies: FAQs

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭? 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝.

𝟏𝟎 𝐅𝐀𝐐𝐬

𝟏. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞? The law says that you can give someone of your choice a written mandate to make medical decisions on your behalf. We call this a section 7 mandate. Section 7 of the National Health Act says: "Consent of the user - A health service may not be provided to a user without the user’s informed consent, unless (a) The user is unable to give informed consent and such consent is given by a person – (i) mandated by the user in writing to grant consent on his or her behalf."

𝟐. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟? The person that you mandate is your “proxy” decision maker, if you are unable to give consent yourself because, for example, you are unconscious, very ill, or otherwise unable to decide.

𝟑. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?

The law says that no medical treatment can be given without your informed consent — meaning you must be helped to understand your health condition, the treatment options, risks, benefits, costs, and your right to say no. As with giving consent for medical treatment, the law allows your mandated person to refuse treatment or consent, when you can’t refuse yourself. This means your mandated person can refuse things like food, water, or any medical treatment on your behalf.

𝟒. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 (𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐲) 𝐝𝐨? Your mandated person can make all medical decisions for you when you cannot —clarifying your values, preferences and wishes including those in a Living Will, Advance Directive, or Advance Care Plan. Doctors and nurses must follow their instructions, even if that means refusing treatment.

𝟓. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫? All medical treatment and health services are covered, for example hospital or clinic treatment (inpatient or outpatient), diagnostic tests and scans, surgery or other therapeutic interventions, nursing and rehabilitative care, palliative or end-of life care, preventative care and municipal health services.

𝟔. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝟕 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞? If you haven’t mandated someone in writing, the law sets out who may consent for you in this order:

1. Your spouse or partner

2. A parent

3. A grandparent

4. An adult child

5. A brother or sister

𝟕. 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟? Yes. You have the right to refuse treatment, and your mandated person can also refuse treatment on your behalf. Even in emergencies, the law recognises your right to say no, if you have clearly refused.

𝟖. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 “𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭” 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧? It means you (or your mandated person) must be told: your health status (unless disclosure would seriously harm you), the diagnostic and treatment options available, the risks, benefits, costs, and consequences of each option, your right to refuse, and what that refusal means.

𝟗. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞?

If you can understand what is happening, the health worker must explain your condition and involve you as much as possible. Your mandated person can only consent or refuse on your behalf if you are unable to do so.

𝟏𝟎. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰? All health professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, and dental technicians.

Prepared for the Advance Directives Campaign by

Alison Tilley & Rhiannon Thomas

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦? 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 – 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵...

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