PCC302 Palliative care and life limiting conditions-Essay - critical analysis-Advance Care Planning

Legal Frameworks & Advance Care Planning

In Australia, the regulations governing ACP are concerned with protection of patients’ rights and balance the rights of family members and healthcare providers.  Australian Law governs the advance care planning through various state and territory legislation and common law principles. Every Australian state and territory have particular legislation related to ACP, and the difference is in its implementation and enforcement such as, in New South Wales (NSW), the Guardianship Act 1987 allows for the creation of legally binding advance care directives, whereas in Victoria, the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 provides a structured framework for advance care planning (Victorian Government, 2016).The legality of advance care directives varies across states and territories as some administration recognize these documentation legally binding, while others only serve as guideline to healthcare providers. Where the directives are the standardized care plan for advance care. It provides outline for the patient’s preferences for the future care including beliefs, value and goals. The advance care directive legalizes the formal appointment of substitute decision maker if patient is susceptible to go into vegetative state (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2024). This raise ethical concerns whether the patient's wishes will be catered in different legal contexts or if the absence of legal recognition for some regulations might cause unnecessary medical interventions or disregard to patient's preferences (Ruseckaite et al., 2017).

Detering and Clayton (2018), state that in Australian jurisdiction the selection of alternate decision maker or the appointment of a healthcare proxy is major issue of ACP. As this person is selected to take major healthcare decision when the patient is unable to take those decisions, and in most cases, it is an immediate family members or close friends, but the selection process and the extent of their authority is debatable. The decision taken by the proxy is often uncertain particularly when the patient’s wishes are not clearly documented or when family members have concerns or completely disagree with the care provided (Craig et al., 2021).