Checklist · Health & Medical Law
Advance care directive (Victoria): instructions note, completion and witnessing checklist, and decision-maker map
A checklist for helping a Victorian client make an advance care directive under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016: values and instructional directives, capacity, in-person witnessing, copies, revocation and who the medical treatment decision maker will be.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Victoria
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the authority it cites, for Victoria.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a client in Victoria wants to record their values about future medical treatment or make binding instructions to consent to or refuse treatment, often alongside a will, powers of attorney or the appointment of a medical treatment decision maker.
How AI may be used
The client's values and instructions must be in their own words, settled with their health practitioner where treatment is involved; AI may only organise the lawyer's notes and the checklist, and writes nothing that goes into the directive.
AI may
- Organise the lawyer's file notes of the instructions meeting under the checklist headings
- Prepare the decision-maker map from the client's family details for the lawyer to check
- Track who holds copies and diarise a review
AI must not
- Must not draft or suggest wording for the values directive or the instructional directive
- Must not assess or record a view on the client's decision-making capacity
- Must not suggest specific treatments to consent to or refuse
The lawyer checks
- The client understands the difference between a values directive and a binding instructional directive, and has discussed any instructional directive with a health practitioner
- Two adult witnesses sign in person, one a registered medical practitioner, and neither is an appointed medical treatment decision maker for the client
- Any interpreter attends in person and signs the form
- The decision-maker map is correct, and any earlier medical enduring power of attorney or interstate appointment is identified
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
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The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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