Why do I need an Advance Health Directive?
An Advance Health Directive, or AHD, is an important part of your estate plan.
It works alongside your Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) to plan for what happens if, during your lifetime, you become unable to make decisions about your health care.
You can't predict whether that will ever happen. An accident, illness, injury, or other medical event could mean you temporarily or permanently lose the ability to make your own decisions.
An AHD gives you the opportunity to make some of those decisions before that happens.
What is an Advance Health Directive?
An Advance Health Directive is a legal document that allows you to give directions about your future health care and medical treatment.
You can use your AHD to record decisions about treatment in different circumstances, including what medical treatment you would or wouldn't want if you were unable to make the decision yourself.
An AHD can also be used to appoint an attorney for health matters. Your AHD only operates when you don't have capacity to make the relevant health care decisions yourself.
Why do I need an AHD?
You get to make the decisions
One of the biggest benefits of an AHD is that you make the decisions while you can.
You can think about your values, your preferences, and the types of medical treatment you would or wouldn't want. That means your loved ones and health care providers don't have to try to work out what you might have wanted later. Instead, you've already recorded your decisions.
You can reduce the burden on your loved ones
Imagine your family being asked to make difficult medical decisions for you while you're unable to communicate. They may be dealing with their own fear, grief, and uncertainty.
Without clear directions from you, they may be left asking:
“What would Mum have wanted?”
“Would Dad want this treatment?”
“Would they want life-sustaining treatment if there was little prospect of recovery?”
An AHD can provide clear directions about your wishes, so your loved ones aren't left making their best guess.
Your health care providers can understand your wishes
Your AHD can provide important information to the people involved in your health care about the treatment you have chosen in the circumstances covered by your directions.
You can also use your AHD to record information about your health conditions, as well as spiritual or cultural beliefs that are important to your care and treatment. An AHD is designed to communicate your decisions when you can't communicate them yourself.
AHD vs EPA: what's the difference?
This is one of the most common questions people have.
An Advance Health Directive allows you to make directions about your future health care and medical treatment.
An Enduring Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf about personal matters, including health care, and/or financial matters, depending on the authority you give them. An attorney can only make personal decisions for you when you don't have capacity to make those decisions.
Put simply:
AHD = you record your health care decisions.
EPA = you appoint someone to make decisions for you.
They can work together as part of your broader estate plan.
What happens if I don't have an AHD?
If you don't have an AHD, that doesn't mean nobody can make health care decisions for you. Queensland has laws dealing with substitute decision-makers, including statutory health attorneys.
The important difference is that you haven't recorded your own directions in an AHD. Depending on your circumstances, someone else may need to make decisions about your health care when you can't. That person may be a person recognised as your statutory health attorney, or someone formally appointed under an EPA or by QCAT.
For many people, the appeal of an AHD is simple: you have an opportunity to have your own voice heard before you lose the ability to speak for yourself.
When should I make an Advance Health Directive?
You don't need to wait until you're elderly or seriously unwell. In Queensland, you must be 18 or older and have capacity to make an AHD. An AHD can be relevant for anyone who wants to plan ahead for their future health care.
It can be especially important if:
you're about to have surgery or be admitted to hospital
you have a medical condition that could affect your ability to make decisions
you have a chronic condition that may lead to serious complications
there are particular treatments you feel strongly about
you have particular spiritual or cultural beliefs that you want considered in your care.
You don't need to be sick to have an Advance Health Directive. You need to be able to make the document while you still have capacity.
How do I make an Advance Health Directive in Queensland?
Making an AHD involves more than simply writing down your wishes.
Before completing your AHD, it's worth thinking about your values and preferences, talking with the people close to you, and discussing your health care options with your doctor.
A doctor must complete the relevant part of the AHD and assess your capacity to make it as well as certify that they have discussed the contents with you. You then sign the AHD in front of an eligible witness, such as a JP, Commissioner for Declarations, lawyer, or notary public.
If you appoint an attorney for health matters in your AHD, that person also needs to accept the appointment before they can act.
Do I need a lawyer to make an AHD?
You don't have to obtain legal advice before making an AHD. You can access the Queensland AHD form and explanatory guide yourself.
There can still be value in getting legal advice as part of your broader estate plan, particularly if you want your AHD and EPA to work together with the rest of your estate planning documents.
Your estate plan isn't just about what happens after you die. It also includes planning for what happens while you're alive if you lose capacity.
Understanding how your Will, EPA, AHD, superannuation, insurance, testamentary trusts, and other arrangements fit together can help you create a plan that reflects your circumstances and wishes.
Don't make your AHD and forget about it
An AHD should be reviewed from time to time.
Your wishes can change. Your health can change. Your family circumstances can change. Medical treatment can change. Your estate plan should change with you.
It's also important to make sure the people who may need to rely on your AHD know that it exists and know where to find it.
Your future health care decisions are yours to make
An Advance Health Directive gives you an opportunity to think about your future health care while you have the capacity to make those decisions.
It can give your loved ones clearer guidance. It can help your health care providers understand your wishes. And it can form an important part of a broader estate plan that considers both life and death.
You don't have to know exactly what the future holds. You can make decisions based on what matters to you now, record them, and review them as your circumstances change.
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A note about this blog
This blog provides general information about Advance Health Directives in Queensland. It isn't legal or medical advice, and your options will depend on your individual circumstances.