The South Australian Advance Care Directives Act 2013: How Has the Decision-Making Paradigm Changed?

This article analyses how the Advance Care Directives Act 2013 SA is changing the decision-making paradigm in health care and guardianship in South Australia. It examines the background to the legislation, the main areas that have been transformed by the Act and the amendments to associated legislat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of law and medicine Vol. 25; no. 2; p. 538
Main Author Brown, Margaret
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Australia 01.02.2018
Subjects
Advance Directives
Australia
Decision Making
Humans
Physicians
autonomy
advance care directives
law and medical practice
medical decision-making
substitute decision-making
consent to medical treatment
resuscitation
end-of-life decisions
capacity
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Summary:This article analyses how the Advance Care Directives Act 2013 SA is changing the decision-making paradigm in health care and guardianship in South Australia. It examines the background to the legislation, the main areas that have been transformed by the Act and the amendments to associated legislation. The significant changes include an increased respect for autonomy and a presumption of decision-making capacity, a new paradigm of substitute decision-making, clarification of the decision-making hierarchy, and protections for medical practitioners who decline to give treatment that would have no benefit to a dying patient. Despite some difficulties implementing the new scheme, this article argues that the Act has introduced important changes and clarifications in the law that other States would do well to follow. When it is fully implemented, the Act will ensure that the wishes of patients are respected and that doctors can follow these wishes without fear of prosecution.
ISSN:1320-159X