South Australia Advance Care Directives
In South Australia, an Advance Care Directive can record future health, end-of-life, living and personal decisions, and appoint substitute decision-makers.
In South Australia, an Advance Care Directive is a legal form for future health care, living arrangements, personal matters and end-of-life decisions. It can also appoint one or more substitute decision-makers.
General information: This page gives general information for people in South Australia. It is not legal advice. If there is disagreement or uncertainty, ask the treating team, the Office of the Public Advocate, SACAT, the Legal Services Commission or a lawyer.
What it can include
South Australian Government information says an Advance Care Directive can record instructions and preferences about future health care, living arrangements, personal matters and end of life.
It can also appoint substitute decision-makers. Their role is to make decisions for you if you cannot make the decision yourself. They should follow your wishes and instructions as far as the law allows.
An Advance Care Directive does not cover financial matters. Financial matters usually need a separate enduring power of attorney.
The form can include both firm instructions and broader wishes. Firm instructions may help with decisions about treatments such as CPR, hospital transfer, tube feeding, IV fluids or other treatment near the end of life. Broader wishes help your substitute decision-maker understand what matters to you when the exact situation was not predicted.
When it is used
The Office of the Public Advocate says an Advance Care Directive is active as soon as it is signed and witnessed. But while you can make a particular decision yourself, you should still be supported to decide.
If you cannot make the decision, your substitute decision-maker should stand in your shoes and make the decision you would have made.
This is why conversation matters. A substitute decision-maker may need to decide under pressure, with incomplete information. It helps if they know your values before a crisis, not only what is written on the form.
Signing and copies
An Advance Care Directive must be signed by an authorised witness. If you appoint substitute decision-makers, they must sign to accept their appointment.
South Australia does not have an Advance Care Directive register. Give certified copies to your substitute decision-makers, doctor, hospital, aged care home and close family if you are comfortable doing so.
Review the directive after a major diagnosis, hospital admission, move into aged care, change in family circumstances, or change in treatment goals. If you make a new one, tell people that the earlier version has been replaced.
You may also want to read
- What is an advance care directive?
- What should we organise after being told someone may only have months to live?
- What happens if the family disagrees about treatment at the end of life?