Special health care matters
37 Special health care matters
For this Act, each of the following is a special health care matter for a principal:
removal of non-regenerative tissue from the principal while alive for donation to someone else;
sterilisation of the principal if the principal is, or is reasonably likely to be, fertile;
termination of the principal’s pregnancy;
electroconvulsive therapy or psychiatric surgery;
requesting access to, revoking a request to access, or accessing voluntary assisted dying;
health care prescribed by regulation.
Health care—see the dictionary.
In this section:
electroconvulsive therapy—see the Mental Health Act 2015, section 145.
health care primarily to treat organic malfunction or disease, of a principal, means health care without which an organic malfunction or disease of the principal is likely to cause serious or irreversible damage to the principal’s physical health.
Examples
1 Health care involving sterilisation may be primarily to treat organic malfunction or disease if the principal has cancer affecting the reproductive system or cryptorchidism.
2 A procedure involving termination of a principal’s pregnancy may be primarily to treat organic malfunction if the principal requires abdominal surgery for injuries sustained in an accident.
Health care primarily to treat organic malfunction or disease is used in the definitions of sterilisation and termination.
non-regenerative tissue—see the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1978, dictionary.
psychiatric surgery—see the Mental Health Act 2015, section 145.
sterilisation, of a principal—
means health care of the principal that is intended, or reasonably likely, to make the principal, or ensure the principal is, permanently infertile; but
does not include health care primarily to treat organic malfunction or disease of the principal.
Examples of sterilisation if not primarily to treat organic malfunction or disease
1 endometrial ablation
2 hysterectomy
3 tubal ligation
4 vasectomy termination, of a principal’s pregnancy, does not include health care primarily to treat organic malfunction or disease of the principal.
Division 4.3.2 Things attorneys can and cannot do under enduring powers of attorney
This Act’s bill:Explanatory statementSecond reading speech
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