Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

Reforms to Guardianship and Administration Act

Significant reforms to the Guardianship and Administration Act will give recognition to the valuable contribution made by families and carers of people with disabilities.

The proposed amendments to the act also promote self management, improved access to medical and dental services by persons with a disability and improved operation of the Guardianship List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

The amendments also allow a person without a disability to make provisions for the future by appointing a person, to be known as an "enduring guardian", to make decisions about them, in the event they become subject to a disability. Such decisions could involve lifestyle, general healthcare and financial affairs.

There are many circumstances in which consent to medical treatment of a person with a disability is not regulated by current laws and uncertainty as to who could consent to the provision of treatment of such persons.

As a result of the uncertainty, many doctors, dentists and other health practitioners are not prepared to treat disabled persons in the absence of either informed consent or some sort of court order.

The proposed legislation establishes different categories of medical and dental treatment, in which cases consent is required, and specifies who may provide that consent. The different categories are: Emergency Treatment, Special Procedures and Other Treatment.

In an emergency, a doctor will be able to provide life-saving treatment.

To carry out a special procedure, a doctor will need, in all cases, to obtain the consent of VCAT.

Other treatment may be consented to by the "person responsible": someone empowered to give consent for treatment for a patient who cannot themselves consent.

In situations where there is no "person responsible", the doctor or dentist may proceed to give treatment if it is considered that the treatment is in the patient’s best interest.

In these circumstances, the practitioners will be obliged to notify the Public Advocate of their intentions. This will allow the Public Advocate to better fulfil its current functions under the act, such as the protection of persons with a disability from abuse and exploitation.

The Bill contains safeguard provisions for situations in which the "person responsible" does not give consent to treatment, but the practitioner still considers it to be in the patient’s best interest.

In such situations either party or the Public Advocate will be able to approach VCAT to review the practitioner’s decision to proceed.

The proposed new system attempts to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access suitable health and dental care even in circumstances where there is no one to consent to treatment on their behalf.

(News Release, Office of the Attorney-General, April 22, 1999)