Advance Health Directive

Planning for the future includes making informed decisions about your health care, particularly in circumstances where you may no longer be able to speak for yourself. An AHD (AHD) is a powerful legal document that allows you to record clear and legally binding instructions about your future medical treatment and care. It helps ensure that your values and preferences are respected, even if you cannot communicate them at the time.

At Vojdani Lawyers, we assist individuals and families across Queensland in preparing AHDs that accurately reflect their personal values, medical preferences, and beliefs. By documenting your wishes in advance, you provide certainty and reassurance to loved ones and health professionals during emotionally difficult times.

An AHD is a formal document that enables you (the principal) to state your wishes about future health care if you lose decision-making capacity. It operates alongside, or independently of, an Enduring Power of Attorney for personal and health matters. Together, these documents can provide a comprehensive framework for future health and lifestyle decisions.

An AHD can address both general health care and special health care decisions. General health care includes routine and life-sustaining medical treatment, while special health care involves more complex or sensitive matters that ordinarily require specific consent. The directive may also record personal, cultural, religious, or ethical beliefs that should guide decision-making on your behalf. This ensures that treating doctors and substitute decision-makers understand not only the treatments you do or do not want, but also the values that sit behind those choices.

An AHD allows you to give binding directions about medical treatment, including whether you consent to or refuse certain forms of care. This may include instructions relating to life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition or hydration, antibiotics, resuscitation measures, or blood transfusions.

You may also include guidance about participation in medical research, preferred treatment settings, and who should or should not be consulted in relation to your care. These instructions assist doctors and loved ones to act consistently with your values when difficult decisions arise. The clearer your directive, the easier it is for health professionals and family members to make decisions with confidence.

In addition to recording treatment instructions, an AHD may appoint one or more attorneys to make health-related decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity. Any appointed attorney must act in accordance with the directions and principles set out in your directive.

Clear drafting is essential to avoid confusion or conflict between the directive and any Enduring Power of Attorney. Legal advice ensures that all documents operate together seamlessly and reflect your intentions accurately.

To be legally effective in Queensland, an AHD must comply with strict statutory requirements. The document must be completed while the principal has decision-making capacity and in consultation with a medical practitioner. The doctor must certify that the principal understands the nature and effect of the directive at the time it is made.

The directive must also be properly witnessed by an authorised witness, such as a lawyer or Justice of the Peace, who confirms the document has been correctly executed and that the principal appears to have capacity. If attorneys are appointed, they must formally accept their appointment by signing the document. Failure to meet these formal requirements can result in the directive being invalid or not followed when it is most needed.

While the original AHD should be kept in a safe place, it is important that certified copies are provided to relevant people. This typically includes your treating doctor, appointed attorneys, close family members, and any health care facility involved in your care.

Informing family members of the existence of your directive reduces the risk of uncertainty or disputes and ensures your wishes are known and respected when decisions must be made.

An AHD should be reviewed regularly, particularly if your health circumstances, personal beliefs, or treatment preferences change. As a general guide, reviewing your directive every two years, or following a significant medical event, helps ensure it remains accurate and relevant.