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Appoint your medical treatment decision maker
Tell us who you would like to make medical treatment decisions for you if you cannot, and we will take it from there.
Before you start
Time: about a minute for the first page, or about 3 minutes to answer everything online.
Have handy: the names and phone numbers of the people you would like to appoint, in order of preference.
Not sure of an answer? Leave it blank and we will ask.
We reply within one business day. Where the work allows, we quote a fixed fee. Otherwise we charge for the time spent and give you a written estimate.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529.
Common questions
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A medical treatment decision maker (MTDM) is a person appointed under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic) to make medical treatment decisions on your behalf if you lose the ability to make or communicate those decisions yourself. This role is distinct from an enduring power of attorney, which covers financial and personal (non-medical) matters under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic). Your medical treatment decision maker can consent to or refuse most medical treatment on your behalf, including life-sustaining treatment. Our guide to medical treatment decision makers explains how to appoint one and what happens if you do not.
You can appoint any adult you trust, and they must accept the appointment in writing before it takes effect. Common choices include a spouse or domestic partner, adult child, parent, sibling, or close friend who understands your values and can make difficult decisions under pressure. You can appoint more than one person, but only one acts at a time: the first person listed in your appointment who is reasonably available and willing and able to make the decision. The Victorian Department of Health publishes the forms, and the Office of the Public Advocate provides guidance.
An advance care directive (ACD) is a formal legal document under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic) that records your values and instructions for future medical treatment in case you lose capacity. It may include an instructional directive (binding instructions consenting to or refusing specific treatments) and a values directive (a statement of your personal values and preferences). The Victorian Department of Health publishes the forms, and the Office of the Public Advocate provides guidance.
Your medical treatment decision maker can consent to or refuse most medical treatment on your behalf under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic), including surgery, medication, resuscitation and the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. Different rules apply to palliative care, special medical procedures, medical research and compulsory mental health treatment, and the role does not extend to voluntary assisted dying. If your advance care directive contains a relevant instructional directive, it is treated as your own decision. Otherwise your decision maker must make the decision they reasonably believe you would have made, considering your values directive first and then your other preferences and values. They cannot make decisions about finances or accommodation, which require a separate enduring power of attorney.
If you have not appointed anyone, the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic) sets an order: a guardian appointed by VCAT with power to make medical treatment decisions, then the first of the following who is in a close and continuing relationship with you and is reasonably available, willing and able to decide: your spouse or domestic partner, your primary carer, your adult child, your parent or your adult sibling (in each of the last three groups, the oldest if there is more than one). If there is no one, a health practitioner may give routine treatment, but significant treatment needs the consent of the Public Advocate. Disputes about decision makers or about the validity of a directive can be referred to VCAT.
Yes. Through an instructional directive within your advance care directive, you can give legally binding instructions consenting to or refusing specific medical treatments. For example, you can specify that you do not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), mechanical ventilation, or artificial nutrition in specified circumstances. Health practitioners must, as far as reasonably practicable, follow a valid instructional directive. Limited exceptions apply, for example where circumstances have changed and there is no time to apply to VCAT, and treatment you consented to in advance is given only if it is clinically appropriate. We can assist you in preparing the relevant documents and referring you to appropriate healthcare professionals.