Do you require:

An Enduring Power of Attorney Financial?
A Medical Power of Attorney?
A Specific Power of Attorney?
Ap pointment of Enduring Guardian?

There are occasions (such as accidents or ill health) when you cannot do things for yourself. What happens? Your attorney acts for you. Unless you have an Attorney to act for you then you will be forced to seek the intervention of the Courts and legal Tribunals to appoint persons to act on your behalf. Be prepared with the appropriate document in place before you lose that opportunity.

An enduring power of attorney (medical treatment) is a legal document where you (the donor) appoint someone (the agent) to make medical treatment decisions for you - like agreeing to medication or surgery. Enduring means it continues (endures) when you are unable to make these types of decisions for yourself.

Their power begins when you are unable to make decisions. Your agent's decisions have the same legal force as if you had made them yourself.

What type of decisions can an agent make?

They can only refuse medical treatment if the treatment would cause you unreasonable distress, or the agent reasonably believes that you would consider the treatment
An enduring power of attorney (medical treatment) cannot be used to make financial, legal or
An agent cannot agree (consent) to the following medical procedures: those likely to lead to infertility;
your Involvement in medical research;
termination of a pregnancy;
removal of tissue for transplant.

Before any of these procedures can be carried out, the agent must apply to the Guardianship List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) for a decision. Note: The agent cannot refuse medical treatment to alleviate pain or suffering when a person is dying (palliative care).

Who can appoint an agent?

You can appoint an agent if you are over 18 years of age and have the capacity to make the appointment.

What is capacity?

To have capacity is to know what you are doing, to understand the consequences of your actions and to make choices based on your knowledge and understanding. The test for capacity to make an enduring power of attorney (medical treatment) is that you understand: The powers of the agent; That the power will operate if you lose the ability to make medical treatment decisions; That you can revoke these powers whilst you have capacity.

If you do not have sufficient capacity, the 'person responsible' (usually a close family member or a guardian appointed by the Guardianship list of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal can consent to medical treatment decisions for you.

An agent must be over 18 years of age and have the capacity to be your agent. You can appoint any person you choose, as long as they agree to take on the role. They should be someone that you trust to respect and carry out your wishes. You can also choose to appoint an alternate agent but they can only make decisions on your behalf when the agent is unable to so. Responsibilities of the agent The agent must: act in your best interests; wherever possible, make the same decision that you would have made ; avoid situations where there is a conflict of interest; To help the agent understand your views about possible medical procedures (e.g. the use of a life support system), we suggest you discuss this with them and write down your wishes. What if I change my mind? You can cancel (revoke) the appointment at any time as long as you understand the nature and effect of revoking the power. You can revoke the power by telling the agent that their power is withdrawn or by destroying the enduring power of attorney document and any copies. We recommend that you also complete a Revocation of Enduring Power of Attorney form and give a copy to your agent. If you appoint a new agent, any earlier appointment is automatically revoked, but you should still notify the first agent that their power has been revoked. When the donor dies, the enduring power of attorney (medical treatment) ends.