An advance care directive is a legal document made under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016.

In an advance care directive, you can write either or both:

• an instructional directive with legally binding instructions about future medical treatment you consent to or refuse
• a values directive which documents your values and preferences for your medical treatment decision maker to consider when making decisions for you.

To make an advance care directive you must have decision-making capacity to do so.

Instructional directive

You should only complete an instructional directive if you know the medical treatment that you want or do not want in the future, as health practitioners are bound to follow your instruction.

An instructional directive:

• is a statement of your medical treatment decision
• takes effect as if you had consented to, or refused, the medical treatment.

To make an instructional directive, you can use the advance care directive form for adults developed by Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Find the advance care directive form and instructions for completing it, on the Victorian Government health.vic website.

When it is used

Health practitioners need your consent before providing medical treatment. However, an illness or injury may mean that you do not have decision-making capacity to make the medical treatment decision.

If this happens, your health practitioner must make reasonable efforts to find out whether you made an advance care directive with a relevant instructional directive.

If you have, your health practitioner follows your instructions in the directive.

Values directive

A values directive is a statement of your values and preferences for your medical treatment.

Thinking about your values and preferences, talking about them, and recording them, is a process known as advance care planning.

Making an advance care directive is one way of recording your values and preferences. You can do this in other ways as well.

To make a values directive, you can use the advance care directive form for adults developed by Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Find the advance care directive form and instructions for completing it, on the Victorian Government health.vic website.

When it is used

If you do not have decision-making capacity to make a medical treatment decision, and have not made a relevant instructional directive, your health practitioner will ask your medical treatment decision maker to make the decision on your behalf.

The Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act specifies who your medical treatment decision maker is. See Identifying the medical treatment decision maker

Your medical treatment decision maker needs to make the decision they reasonably believe you would make. To do this, they must consider, among other things:

• your values directive (if applicable)
• other values or preferences you have expressed.

Ending and cancelling

Your advance care directive ends when:

• you complete a new advance care directive
• you revoke (cancel) the appointment which you have decision-making capacity to do so
• the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal cancels it - See VCAT advisory opinions and orders
• you die.

Revoking an advance care directive

To revoke an advance care directive you must have decision-making capacity to do so.

Find the revocation form on the Victorian Government health.vic website.

If you revoke your advance care directive, you should inform your medical treatment decision maker(s) and any relevant health practitioner(s), and retrieve any copies.