Rules for advance health directives

Part of the Powers of Attorney and guardianship topic

Understand the rules you must follow when making an advance health directive in Queensland.

In short

An advance health directive lets you plan your future health care. It applies if you lose the capacity to make decisions.

You can use it to:

If you don't follow these rules, your directive may not be valid. If this happens, decisions may be made by either:

To make an advance health directive you must:

be 18 years or older to make an advance health directive
have the capacity to understand what the directive means and does
make the directive freely and voluntarily, without pressure from anyone
sign the directive, and have your doctor sign it, in front of an eligible witness
refer to the advance health care explanatory guide [PDF] when completing the form
use the current advance health directive form [PDF]
take reasonable steps to tell your attorney(s) (if appointed) if you end your directive.

You cannot make an advance health directive if you:

are under 18 years old
don't have capacity to understand what the advance health directive means or does
are being forced or pressured into making an advance health directive
want to appoint an attorney for health matters but they have not agreed or signed the document
are using an outdated advance health directive form.

You can end your advance health directive at any time, provided you have the capacity to do so.