Advance Care Planning in Western Australia: A Complete Checklist
What Advance Care Planning Actually Involves in WA
Advance care planning in Western Australia is not a single form. It is a coordinated process that results in up to three statutory documents, each covering a different category of future decisions. The Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 splits personal planning into strict lanes, and understanding those lanes before you start is what separates a plan that works from a pile of paper.
Here is the checklist, in the order that matters.
Step 1: Understand the Three-Document Framework
| Document | What it controls | Completed by |
|---|---|---|
| Advance Health Directive (AHD) | Specific medical treatment decisions (CPR, ventilation, palliative care) | You — recording your own treatment decisions |
| Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG) | Personal and lifestyle decisions (accommodation, support services, medical consent not covered by AHD) | You — appointing a substitute decision-maker |
| Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) | Financial affairs and property transactions | You — appointing a financial attorney |
The AHD and EPG work together on the personal side. The EPA handles money. A common planning error is completing only an EPA and assuming it covers medical decisions — it does not.
Step 2: Book a GP Consultation
Before filling in any forms, book a standard appointment with your GP. This is not a legal requirement, but it addresses the biggest failure point in self-completed directives: vague clinical language.
Your GP can walk you through the treatment options in Part 4 of the AHD form — CPR, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition, dialysis, palliative sedation — and explain what each intervention actually involves in your specific clinical context. A directive that says "I refuse mechanical ventilation if I am in a persistent vegetative state" is clinically actionable. "No heroic measures" is not.
If you have a known medical condition (heart disease, early-stage dementia, cancer), discuss the likely trajectory with your doctor so your directive addresses the scenarios most relevant to your situation.
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Step 3: Complete the AHD
Download the prescribed form from HealthyWA (healthywa.wa.gov.au). Do not use interstate forms, modified templates, or overseas living-will documents.
Mandatory sections:
- Part 1: Personal details (complete the required details)
- Part 4: Treatment decisions (at least one binding decision required)
- Part 6: Witnessing and signatures
Optional sections you skip: Cross out every unused section with a line or write "Not completed." Leaving them blank creates ambiguity that can be used to challenge the directive.
Step 4: Choose and Appoint Your Enduring Guardian (EPG)
If you want someone specific to make personal and lifestyle decisions on your behalf — rather than relying on the statutory hierarchy — complete an EPG.
Key decisions:
- Sole or joint guardians? Joint guardians must agree unanimously, which can stall time-critical medical decisions. A sole guardian with a named substitute is usually safer.
- Limited or general powers? You can restrict the guardian's authority to specific types of decisions.
- Who should it be? Someone who knows your values, can handle medical conversations under pressure, and is willing to make difficult calls. Not necessarily the same person as your EPA attorney.
The EPG has a two-stage signing process: you sign first (with two witnesses, at least one authorised), then your chosen guardian signs acceptance (same witnessing requirements, separate occasion is fine).
Step 5: Arrange Witnesses
Both the AHD and EPG require two independent adult witnesses present simultaneously when you sign. At least one must be authorised under the Oaths, Affidavits and Statutory Declarations Act 2005 — that includes currently registered doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, JPs, nurses, and police officers.
Common pitfalls:
- Retired professionals do not qualify (registration must be current)
- For an EPG, a named guardian cannot witness the appointor's signing
Practical approach: Sign at your GP clinic — the doctor serves as the authorised witness, and a nurse or receptionist serves as the second witness.
Step 6: Distribute and Upload
A signed directive locked in a safe does nothing during a 2 AM emergency admission. Distribution is not optional — it is what makes the documents functional.
Physical distribution:
- Certified copy to your GP (ask them to note it in your medical record)
- Copies to your enduring guardian and substitute guardian
- Copies to close family members
- Copy to any aged-care facility you reside in
Digital distribution:
- Scan the signed document in black-and-white at 300 dpi (keeps the file under My Health Record's 20 MB upload limit)
- Log in to myGov → My Health Record → upload under "Advance Care Planning"
- This can make your directive available to treating healthcare professionals who access My Health Record during an admission
Emergency signalling:
- Carry an alert card in your wallet noting that a directive exists and providing emergency contact details for your enduring guardian
Step 7: Schedule Reviews
An AHD does not expire, but WA law allows clinicians to "read down" a directive older than ten years. More practically, your wishes evolve. Review your documents:
- Every 2–3 years as a routine check
- After a major diagnosis
- After a significant relationship change (marriage, separation, death of your appointed guardian)
- After a hospital admission where the documents were tested
A review does not mean starting from scratch. Re-reading the documents with your GP and confirming they still reflect your wishes helps keep the planning current; if you want to change a signed AHD, revoke it and make a new one.
The Planning Gap Most People Miss
Most WA residents complete at most one of these documents — usually an EPA, because it is the most commonly discussed by solicitors during will preparation. But an EPA without an AHD or EPG leaves medical and personal decisions entirely to the statutory hierarchy, which may not reflect your preferences.
The Western Australia Advance Directive & Living Will Kit walks through all three documents in a coordinated workflow, with form annotations, witnessing checklists, a guardian evaluation worksheet, and a My Health Record upload guide — everything needed to complete the process without a $600+ solicitor appointment.
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