Advance care planning

Advance care planning helps your healthcare team and loved ones to make important medical decisions on your behalf.

Sharing your wishes means that if there is a time you can’t communicate, they can give you the care you want.

About advance care planning

Advance care planning is an important conversation about your future health and personal care.

Advance care planning includes:

• thinking about your values, beliefs and health goals
• choosing someone to speak on your behalf if you can’t
• making sure you have a say in your own healthcare.

For information about when an advance care plan is used, the role of family and carers, and tips for completing the required documents read the Advance Care Planning in the ACT booklet [PDF 1MB]. This booklet includes the form to complete the Statement of Choices, which forms part of an advance care plan.

For an overview of advance care planning and quick facts read the advance care planning infographic [PDF 250KB].

Organising an Advance Care Plan

The ACT Advance Care Planning team can help you to organise a Statement of Choices, Enduring Power of Attorney and Health Direction. Together these documents form an Advance Care Plan.

Phone 02 5124 9274 or email acp@act.gov.au to speak to someone or make an appointment.

The ACT Advance Care Planning team delivers clinics in the community. You can call the following numbers to find out more and make an appointment at each clinic:

• Monday
  • Weekly clinic at the Canberra Hospital. Phone 5124 9274
  • Weekly clinic at the North Canberra Hospital. Phone 5124 9274
• Tuesday
  • Weekly clinic at the Canberra Hospital. Phone 5124 9274
• Wednesday
  • Every second month at Parkinson’s ACT in Deakin to re-commence from July 2024
  • Quarterly clinic at Dementia Australia in Griffith. Phone 6255 0722
• Thursday
  • Weekly clinic at Council on the Ageing (COTA) ACT in Hughes. Phone 6282 3777
  • Weekly clinic at theUniversity of Canberra Hospital. Phone 5124 9274

Advance care planning documents

The following advance care planning documents are used in the ACT.

Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA)

Enduring Power of Attorney is a legally binding document which says who you have chosen to be your decision maker/s when you can longer voice these decisions for yourself and sets out instructions about what they can do on your behalf.

Access the Enduring Power of Attorney Form on the ACT Legislation Register.

Read more about EPOAs on the ACT Public Trustee and Guardian website.

Download the ACT Public Trustee and Guardian publication called The Power to Choose [PDF 2MB].

Statement of Choices (competent adults)

You can use the Statement of Choices form to write down what matters most to you when defining quality of life and what might be unacceptable. You can include your choices about medical treatments and care for when you cannot make your own decisions or tell others what you want.

Download the ACP Statement of Choices form [PDF 281.7 KB].

Health Direction

A Health Direction gives you an option to legally refuse or stop medical treatment. You have the right to stop, or choose not to have, medical treatment at any time. A Health Direction must be followed as soon as it is completed. You can complete a Health Direction if you feel you need to. It is best completed with your treating medical doctor.

Open the Health Direction form on the ACT Legislation Register.

Uploading advance care planning documents

It is important that you upload your documents to MyDHR. MyDHR is the online patient portal that gives you access to your ACT public health information held on the Digital Health Record (DHR).

Go to the Canberra Health Services website to read about uploading advance care planning documents to MyDHR.

Go to the Australian Digital Health Agency website to read about uploading advance care planning documents to My Health Record.

More information

Visit the Canberra Health Services website for more information about advance care planning.

You can access information on advance care planning in other languages through the Advance Care Planning Australia website.