Enduring Power of Guardianship and Advance Health Directive forms WA 2023
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These documents will enable West Australian adults to direct how decisions about their lifestyle and medical treatment will be made, if they lose the capacity to make these decisions themselves.
An Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG) is a legal document that allows you to appoint another person to make important personal, lifestyle and treatment decisions on your behalf if you ever become incapable of making such decisions yourself. This person is known as an enduring guardian. An enduring guardian's powers are limited to what you specify in the EPG and may include all or any of the following:
- decide where you live, whether premanently or temporarily;
- decide who you will live with;
- decide whether you work and, if so, any matters related to that work;
- provide or refuse consent, on your behalf, to any medical, surgical or dental treatment or other health care (including palliative care and life-sustaining measures such as assisted ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitations);
- decide what education and training you receive;
- commence, defence, conduct or settle any legal proceedings on your behalf, except proceedings that relate to your property or estate;
- advocate for and make decisions about the support services to which you will have access; and
- seek and receive information on your behalf. An enduring guardian cannot make decisions for you on property or financial matters.
If you wish to give someone the authority to make financial decisions on your behalf, you will need to make an Enduring Power of Attorney.
An Advance Health Directive is a document that contains your decisions about future treatment. Treatment includes medical, surgical and dental treatment and other health care. You can make an Advance Health Directive in which you either provide consent, or refuse consent, to future treatment.
Having an Advance Health Directive means that if you are unable to make a treatment decision yourself, the instructions you have given in your Advance Health Directive will be used instead of your appointed Enduring Guardian making these decisions for you.