Health Care Decision Making Act 2023

Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a health care decision maker has no authority in relation to the following:

sterilisation;

termination of a pregnancy;

removal of non-regenerative tissue, as defined in section 4 of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1979, for transplantation into another person;

special medical research or experimental health care that:

relates to a condition the adult has or to which the adult has a significant risk of being exposed; or

is intended to gain knowledge for use in the diagnosis, maintenance or treatment of a condition the adult has or had;

health care that is not yet accepted as evidence‑based or best practice by a substantial number of health care providers specialising in the relevant area of health care;

electroconvulsive therapy;

any treatment that involves the use of an aversive stimulus, whether mechanical, chemical, physical or otherwise;

any procedure prescribed by regulation.

A health care decision maker has authority to consent to the administration of a procedure referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (b) to an adult if:

the primary reason for the procedure is to treat an illness, injury or other organic malfunction; and

serious or irreversible damage to the adult's health is likely unless the procedure is performed.

Subsection (1)(d) does not prohibit research (including psychological research), a clinical trial or the collection of information:

that is:

approved by a Human Research Ethics Committee registered with the

National Health and Medical Research Council; and

conducted in accordance with any human research guidelines made under section 10 of the National Health and Medical Research

Council Act 1992 (Cth); or

that is prescribed by regulation.

Note for section 30

An advance consent decision may be made about a matter to which this section applies.