A draft Bill to give greater legal certainty to the status of advance care directives has been released for public comment.
Advance care directives are instructions around a person’s future decisions regarding health care which enables Tasmanians to put their affairs in order typically as they age. They can be an important part of end-of-life care.
It also enables those who are providing health care to understand the values, wishes and preferences of a person at a time when they have lost the ability to make decisions and communicate those views.
The Guardianship and Administration Amendment (Advance Care Directives) Bill 2020 draws on the important work delivered by the Tasmania Law Reform Institute (TLRI) in their review of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1995.
Given this is highly complex area of reform and the voluminous nature of the TLRI Report, as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, I will be taking a staged approach to its implementation. A legislative framework for advance care directives will be the first in a number of stages to deal with this substantial and often difficult reform.
Importantly, the Bill also provides powers to enable the Public Guardian to mediate disputes arising from the implementation of an advance care directive and extends the range of orders that can be made by the Guardianship and Administration Board.
While advance care directives are already in operation at common law, this proposed legislation will give greater clarity about their legal status and provide greater certainty about protections for health practitioners and others responsible for giving effect to them.
Public comment is invited on the draft Bill until 16 October 2020. To view the Bill, visit :
https://www.justice.tas.gov.au/community-consultation/consultations/guardianship-and-administration-amendment-advance-care-directives-bill-2020/_nocache