Guardianship Regulation 2016

For the purposes of the definition of major treatment in section 33 (1) of the Act, the following medical treatment (not including any special treatment) is declared to be major treatment:

any treatment that involves the administration of a long-acting injectable hormonal substance for the purpose of contraception or menstrual regulation,

any treatment that involves the administration of a drug of addiction,

any treatment that involves the administration of a general anaesthetic or other sedation, but not treatment involving:

sedation used to facilitate the management of fractured or dislocated limbs, or

sedation used to facilitate the insertion of an endoscope into a patient’s body for diagnostic purposes unless the endoscope is inserted through a breach or incision in the skin or a mucous membrane,

any treatment used for the purpose of eliminating menstruation,

any treatment that involves the administration of a restricted substance for the purpose of affecting the central nervous system, but not a treatment:

involving a substance that is intended to be used for analgesic, antipyretic, antiparkinsonian, anticonvulsant, antiemetic, antinauseant or antihistaminic purposes, or

that is to be given only once, or

that is a PRN treatment (that is, given when required, according to the patient’s needs) that may be given not more than 3 times a month, or

given for sedation in minor medical procedures,

any treatment that involves a substantial risk to the patient (that is, a risk that amounts to more than a mere possibility) of:

death, or

brain damage, or

paralysis, or

permanent loss of function of any organ or limb, or

permanent and disfiguring scarring, or

exacerbation of the condition being treated, or

an unusually prolonged period of recovery, or

a detrimental change of personality, or

a high level of pain or stress,

any treatment involving testing for the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV).

In this clause, drug of addiction means a substance that is specified in Schedule Eight of the Poisons List under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966.