Advance Health Directive

An Advance Health Directive (AHD) is a legal document that allows an adult in Queensland to give directions about their future health care and special health care.

An AHD is particularly useful if there comes a time when you are unable to make decisions about your health care yourself. The directions in the AHD operate when you do not have capacity to make the relevant health care decision.

You can use an AHD to record your wishes about things such as:

life-sustaining treatment
other health care
blood transfusions
what is important to you when you are nearing death
cultural, religious or spiritual preferences
who you would like involved in discussions about your care.

You can also use an AHD to appoint an attorney for health matters --- someone you trust to make health care decisions for you if you lose capacity.

An AHD is different from an end of life plan. An end of life plan can include many practical and personal wishes, while an AHD is a formal legal document dealing with health care decisions.

Making an Advance Health Directive

The Queensland AHD must be completed by an adult who has capacity to make the document. A doctor must complete the doctor certificate, and the person making the AHD must sign it in the presence of an eligible witness such as a justice of the peace, commissioner for declarations, lawyer or notary public.

Once completed, the original should be kept somewhere safe and relevant people should know that it exists and where it can be found.

An AHD is about your health care choices. It is not a funeral plan, and it is not a way of making a decision about voluntary assisted dying on your behalf.