Advance care planning is a voluntary process of planning for future health and personal care whereby the consumer’s values, beliefs and preferences are made known to guide decision-making at a future time when that consumer cannot make or communicate their decisions.
Advance care planning may result in a consumer recording their preferences and decisions by completing one or more advance care planning documents.
Advance Care Planning documents are included in the My Health Record system to provide increased accessibility to a consumer’s advance care planning information nationwide.
Advance Care Document Custodian in My Health Record can include State‐/Territory-specific statutory documents appointing a substitute decision-maker for health care decisions. These documents are known by different names in different jurisdictions, including: Enduring Power of Attorney, Enduring Guardian, Medical Treatment Decision-Maker, Advance Personal Plan Decision-Maker. They capture information about the custodian of a consumer's advance care planning documents and can be either a person or an organisation that holds a copy of the advance care planning document.
See also: National Framework for advance care planning documents, Advance Care Planning Australia.
There are differences across Australian States and Territories in relation to legislative requirements for completion and use of advance care planning documents. For further information on laws relating to advance care planning documents and decision-making see: QUT - End of Life Law in Australia.
On completion, original advance care planning documents should be kept in a safe place, and copies of the document shared with anyone who may need to be involved in decisions about the person’s future care e.g., substitute decision maker(s), family, close friends, health care providers, aged care providers.
This end product was previously called Advance Care Directive Custodian.