Advance Health Directives in Queensland: How to Make, Change and Revoke One

In Queensland, an Advance Health Directive (AHD) puts your future health care wishes in writing, so doctors and family know what you want if you can no longer decide for yourself. This guide explains what an AHD is, how to make, certify and revoke one under Queensland law, and what it costs. Our estate planning lawyers in Queensland can also prepare one for you, alongside your Will and Enduring Power of Attorney.

What is an Advance Health Directive in Queensland?

An Advance Health Directive is a legal document, made under the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld), that records your directions about future health care. It only operates if you lose the capacity to make a particular health decision yourself, for example after a stroke, an accident or the progression of dementia. Health providers are generally required to follow a valid AHD, subject to limited exceptions.

In your AHD you can:

• accept or refuse specific treatments, such as surgery, blood transfusions or dialysis
• give directions about life-sustaining measures, such as CPR or assisted ventilation
• record your values, wishes and preferences, so doctors and family understand the reasons behind your choices
• optionally appoint an attorney for health matters, who can step in if your directions don’t cover a situation.

Two limits are worth knowing. In Queensland, a direction to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment only takes effect in the situations set out in the Act:

• a terminal illness where death is expected within a year,
• permanent unconsciousness or a persistent vegetative state,
• an illness or injury so severe that you could not survive without ongoing life support.

In each case you must also have no reasonable prospect of regaining capacity. And an AHD cannot deal with money or property, or authorise euthanasia.

Advance Health Directive vs Enduring Power of Attorney vs Will

These three Queensland documents do different jobs, and most people need all three.

If your AHD and an attorney’s decision ever conflict on a health matter, the directions in your AHD take priority. Our guide to Enduring Power of Attorney in Queensland explains how to choose and appoint an attorney. An AHD also ends when you die, so what happens to your property is a matter for your Will: see what to consider when making a Will in Queensland and our guide to estate administration in Queensland.

Why do you need an Advance Health Directive in Queensland?

You can only make an AHD while you have capacity, and nobody knows when that might change. Without an AHD or an appointed attorney, Queensland law passes your health decisions to a “statutory health attorney”: your spouse or partner (if the relationship is close and continuing), then an unpaid carer, then a close friend or relative, and the Public Guardian if none of them is available. That person may not be who you would choose, and may not know what you want.

An AHD is particularly valuable in situations like these:

• You’re facing major surgery. Before heart surgery or a complex spinal operation, you can say whether you would accept prolonged life support if complications leave you unable to decide.
• You’ve been diagnosed with dementia, Parkinson’s disease or motor neurone disease. Capacity is required to make an AHD, so early planning lets you set out your wishes and have a doctor confirm your capacity while it is clear.
• You live with a chronic or life-limiting illness, such as kidney failure, COPD or heart failure, where emergency hospital admissions are likely.
• Your beliefs shape your treatment choices. For example, you may refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds and want that recorded before an emergency.
• You have a blended family, or relatives who disagree. A second partner and adult children from an earlier relationship often see things differently. A written direction spares them from guessing or arguing.
• You live alone or have no close family nearby. Your AHD speaks for you, and you can name a trusted person as your health attorney instead of leaving it to the default order.
• You’re moving into aged care or a retirement village. It is a natural moment to put your wishes in writing, so staff, your GP and your family are working from the same page.
• You’re young and healthy. A road accident or sudden illness can remove your capacity at any age, and a brain injury leaves no time to plan.

How to make an Advance Health Directive in Queensland: step by step

What you need

• The current Advance Health Directive (Form 4), free to download and print from the Queensland Government website.
• The explanatory guide (Form 10), which walks you through each question.
• Details of your attorney(s), if you want to appoint one for health matters.
• Copies of any existing Enduring Power of Attorney, earlier AHD or Will, so your documents stay consistent.
• An interpreter’s or translator’s statement (Form 7), if you need language support.

Step by step

1. Think it through and talk it over. Consider what matters to you and which treatments you would accept or refuse. Talk to your family and your doctor, who can explain how your conditions may progress. If you plan to appoint an attorney, talk to them first.
2. Check you’re eligible. You must be 18 or over, understand what the document does, and make it freely and without pressure.
3. Complete your part of Form 4. Fill in your details, health conditions and concerns, wishes and preferences, and your specific directions. Be clear and specific, because vague directions are harder for doctors to apply. If you want to appoint an attorney, complete that section too.
4. Get the doctor’s or nurse practitioner’s certificate. They assess your capacity, then sign and date the certificate in the form. They can’t be your attorney, a relative of yours or your attorney, a beneficiary under your Will, or your witness. They may charge a consultation fee.
5. Sign in front of an eligible witness. After the doctor signs, you sign in the presence of a Justice of the Peace (JP), Commissioner for Declarations (Cdec), notary public or lawyer. The witness certifies that you appeared to understand the document and signed freely. They must be independent: not your attorney, a relative of yours or your attorney, a beneficiary under your Will, or your paid carer or health provider. Sign soon after the doctor does, as it helps confirm your capacity.
6. Have your attorney(s) sign their acceptance. If you appointed any, they sign after you and the witness have signed, and they can’t act until they do.
7. Store it and share it. Nothing needs to be lodged or registered anywhere in Queensland. Keep the original somewhere safe, give certified copies to your attorney(s), GP, specialists, local hospital and lawyer, and tell your family where it is. You can also send a copy to the Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning to be added to your Queensland Health hospital record, and upload it to My Health Record.
8. Review it regularly. Check it at least every two years, and whenever your health changes significantly. Marriage, a civil partnership or divorce can automatically affect an attorney you appointed, so review it straight away if one of those happens.

When should you speak to a lawyer?

You can complete an AHD without one, but a lawyer adds the most value at three points:

• Before you fill in the form. If your situation is complex (a blended family, family conflict, a serious diagnosis, or you want to appoint an attorney), a lawyer can help you word clear directions and make sure they fit with your Enduring Power of Attorney and Will. Lawyers can’t give medical advice, so discuss the treatments themselves with your doctor.
• At signing. A lawyer can act as your eligible witness. If there is any doubt about your capacity, for example with early dementia, see a lawyer early so your capacity is properly documented.
• When things change. A lawyer can prepare a new AHD, draft a revocation or certify copies.

Reviewing your AHD together with your Will keeps your documents consistent. Our guide on when to make a Will with a solicitor in Brisbane covers the timing, and our estate planning team can prepare the documents together.

How to revoke (end) an Advance Health Directive in Queensland

You can revoke your AHD at any time, but only while you still have the capacity to make that decision. Once capacity is lost, it can’t be revoked. There are two practical ways to end it:

• Write a revocation. In Queensland a revocation must be in writing, but there is no required form. State clearly that you revoke your Advance Health Directive, and include your full name, date of birth, the date and your signature. Having a lawyer or JP witness your signature is a sensible extra step, and our lawyers can draft the notice for you.
• Make a new AHD. A later AHD revokes an earlier one to the extent they are inconsistent. For a clean slate, state in the new AHD that you revoke all earlier directives.

An AHD also ends when you die. The Queensland Government’s explanatory guide covers the other ways it can end.

Where do you send a written notice of revocation?

In Queensland you don’t have to lodge or register an AHD anywhere, so there is no registry that a revocation must be filed with. What matters is that everyone who might act on the old directive receives your signed notice:

1. Your attorney(s), if you appointed any. The law requires you to take reasonable steps to tell them.
2. Your GP, specialists and any hospital, aged care provider or other health provider holding a copy. Ask them to place the revocation on your file and remove the old AHD.
3. Queensland Health’s Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning, if a copy of your AHD is on your Queensland Health record. It accepts revocation documents and adds them to your hospital record. Email acp@health.qld.gov.au or call 1300 007 227.
4. My Health Record, if a copy was uploaded. You can remove or replace advance care planning documents at any time.
5. Your lawyer, family and anyone else holding a copy. Then retrieve and destroy the original and any copies you can.

Keep a copy of your revocation and a note of who received it and when.

Making a certified copy of your Advance Health Directive

A certified copy is a photocopy of your AHD that an authorised person has checked against the original and confirmed in writing is a true and complete copy. In Queensland it is optional, but it is the practical way to share your AHD without handing out the original.

Why you might need one

• Your original stays safe. Queensland law allows an AHD to be proved by a correctly certified copy, so doctors, hospitals and attorneys can rely on the copy.
• You need several copies. The Queensland Government recommends giving certified copies to your attorney(s), doctor and other health providers, lawyer and local hospital.
• Providers can rely on it. A certification tells a hospital or aged care provider that the copy is genuine and complete.
• The original goes missing or is damaged. A certified copy of a certified copy can also be certified, so you can still produce proof.

Who can certify it

A Justice of the Peace (JP), a Commissioner for Declarations (Cdec), a lawyer or a notary public. JPs and Cdecs are unpaid volunteers, so certifying is free. You can find one through the Queensland Government’s Find a JP service.

How it works

1. Take the original AHD and a copy of every page to the certifier.
2. They compare the copy with the original.
3. They sign a statement on the copy that it is a true and complete copy of the original, with the number of pages, the date, their name and their qualification.

How much does an Advance Health Directive cost in Queensland?

The cost depends on who helps you:

• The form: free to download and print from the Queensland Government.
• Doctor or nurse practitioner: the capacity assessment is a consultation, and fees vary between practices, so ask when you book.
• Witness: a JP or Cdec is an unpaid volunteer, so witnessing is free. If a lawyer witnesses, it forms part of their fee.
• Lawyer-prepared AHD: the average fee for a standalone AHD in Queensland is around $1000 (including GST), with fees typically ranging from $850 to $1150. Couples, and bundles with a Will or Enduring Power of Attorney, are often cheaper per document.
• Certified copies: free from a JP or Cdec.
• Registration: there is no government registration fee, because an AHD isn’t registered.

GM Law quotes a fixed fee before any work starts. See our estate planning and administration fees for current prices on Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney, or call us for an AHD quote.

Questions about Advance Health Directives in Queensland?

If you’d like to talk through your options, we’re happy to help, free of charge and with no obligation. Call us on 1300 185 636 (8:30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or email law@gmlaw.com.au. Whether you’re starting an AHD, updating an old one or revoking it, our estate planning solicitors can guide you through the process. You can also browse more estate planning guides on our blog.