Health Care Decision Making Act 2023

A health care provider who administers health care to an adult is taken, for all purposes, to have the consent of the adult in relation to that health care, if the health care provider:

believes on reasonable grounds the adult has impaired decision making capacity in relation to making a health care decision; and

relies on the consent to the health care or a health care decision given by:

the adult in an advance consent decision; or

another person whom the health care provider believes on reasonable grounds to be the appropriate health care decision maker for the adult; or

the Public Guardian under section 22; or

NTCAT under section 41(1)(c) or (d).

For subsection (1)(b)(i), the health care provider may rely on an advance consent decision that NTCAT previously ordered to be disregarded if the health care provider does not know, and could not reasonably be expected to know, about the order.

Subsection (1) has effect even if administering the health care will hasten the death of the adult.