Involuntary Treatment

Statutory Health Attorney

A statutory health attorney is someone with automatic authority to make health care decisions on your behalf if you are an adult whose ability to make decisions is permanently or temporarily impaired.

They can consent to most health care issues, including withdrawing life-sustaining measures.

You do not need to fill out forms or formally appoint a statutory health attorney. A person automatically acts in this role when the need arises because of their relationship to you. They do not need any special expertise to perform the role but must be over 18 and capable of making decisions about health care.

Those who can act as a statutory health attorney are (in order of preference, and provided they are readily available and culturally appropriate):

• the patient’s spouse or de facto partner (if the relationship is close and continuing)
• the patient’s primary carer, but not a paid carer (although you may receive a carer’s pension)
• a close adult friend or relative
• the Adult Guardian as a last resort.

Enduring Power of Attorney ( cannot be used in abortion, transplant and tissue donation.

Firstly, there are two types of power of attorney:

• general power of attorney
• enduring power of attorney.

A general power of attorney is given to someone to make financial decisions on your behalf when you are absent, for example, if you are overseas and need someone else to sell your house or pay your bills.

An enduring power of attorney is put in place in the event something happens to you (usually illness or accident) that makes you unable to make your own decisions.

Both types involve a formal agreement giving someone else the power to make decisions on your behalf. It works like this:

1. You sign a form giving power of attorney to the person of your choice.
2. You specify the types of decisions that the person you choose can make.
3. The person agrees to the appointment by signing the acceptance section of the form. This makes them your attorney.
4. As your attorney, they can then act on your behalf if necessary.

Adult Gardianship

The role of the Adult Guardian is to protect the rights and interests of adults who are unable to make decisions for themselves. This lack of decision-making ability, known as impaired capacity, may be caused by intellectual or psychiatric disability, acquired brain injury, dementia or temporary illness such as delirium.

As an independent statutory officer, the Adult Guardian operates free from inteference from government and non-government organisations.

Both the Adult Guardian and Public Advocate are concerned with protecting these people’s rights and interests. However, the Public Advocate does not deal with individual cases, but looks at widespread deficiencies in institutions and systems that affect a large number of people.

For example, while the Adult Guardian might obtain a warrant to remove a person with impaired capacity who is being exploited by a carer, the Public Advocate looks at how the system has failed this person, and could be failing others in similar situations.

Advance Health directive

If you become seriously ill, unconscious or are unable to communicate your health care wishes, critical decisions may need to be made. You can make an advance health directive to make your wishes known in case you are in this situation.

You can make a directive if you are over 18 and have the capacity to do so. This means that you:

• understand the nature and consequences of your health care decisions
• understand the nature and effect of the directive
• freely and voluntarily make these decisions
• communicate decisions in some way.