Living Will QLD: What Queensland Actually Calls It and How It Works

Queensland Doesn't Have a "Living Will"

If you've searched for a living will in Queensland, you've probably noticed that the term doesn't appear in any official government resources. That's because Queensland doesn't use it. The document that does the same job — recording your binding medical treatment preferences for situations where you can't speak for yourself — is called an Advance Health Directive (AHD), and it's documented on the statutory Form 4 under the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld).

This isn't just a naming difference. Queensland's AHD is more powerful than what most people associate with a "living will." A traditional living will is typically a simple statement of wishes — often informal, sometimes not legally binding, and easily overridden by medical professionals who argue the language is too vague. Queensland's AHD, by contrast, is a statutory instrument with defined legal force. Doctors are legally obligated to follow its directions, provided the document was properly executed and the clinical circumstances match.

Why the Terminology Matters

The distinction trips up three groups of people in particular:

Queenslanders who've moved from another state. In New South Wales, the equivalent document is a formal "advance care directive." In Victoria, it's been called a "refusal of treatment certificate" or an "advance care directive" depending on the era. In South Australia, it's an "advance care directive" under the Advance Care Directives Act 2013. Each state has its own statutory framework, forms, and execution requirements. An interstate advance care directive may be recognised in Queensland if it was validly made under the originating state's law, but terminology and execution differences can create practical problems; a generic "living will" is not necessarily sufficient.

People influenced by American resources. The term "living will" is primarily American. In the US, a living will is one component of an advance directive — alongside a healthcare proxy or medical power of attorney. Queensland's system bundles some of these functions into a single AHD, which can both record treatment instructions and appoint a health attorney.

People using generic online templates. A "living will template" downloaded from a US or UK website does not create a Queensland statutory AHD and should not be assumed to have the same effect. The statutory AHD uses the prescribed Form 4 (currently Version 5) and specific Queensland execution requirements — including a registered medical practitioner's capacity certificate and a designated eligible witness.

What the AHD Actually Covers

Queensland's Advance Health Directive lets you:

• Consent to or refuse specific medical treatments — CPR, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition, artificial hydration, dialysis, blood transfusions, and more
• Specify the conditions under which refusals apply — a direction to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment can operate only if one of four statutory conditions applies: a terminal illness with no reasonable prospect of recovery where the treating doctor and another doctor agree that death is expected within one year; a persistent vegetative state with no reasonable prospect of cognitive recovery; a permanent coma with no reasonable prospect of regaining consciousness; or an illness or injury of such severity that the person will permanently require life-sustaining treatment to survive
• Appoint an attorney for health decisions — giving someone legal authority to make medical decisions that your AHD doesn't specifically address
• Record values and preferences — though for non-binding values-based planning, Queensland Health's Statement of Choices (Form A or Form B) is the more appropriate document

The AHD cannot authorise anything illegal, cannot request Voluntary Assisted Dying (which requires full cognitive capacity at every stage), and cannot cover financial decisions (you need an Enduring Power of Attorney for that).

What About a Statement of Choices?

Queensland also has the Statement of Choices — Form A (completed while you have capacity) and Form B (completed by an appropriate substitute decision-maker or person with a close and continuing relationship when you've lost capacity). This is the document that most closely resembles a traditional "living will" in the informal, values-based sense.

The Statement of Choices records your preferences about quality of life, where you'd like to receive care, spiritual and cultural considerations, and general treatment goals. It's used extensively in residential aged care and hospital settings to guide clinical decisions and inform substitute decision-makers.

The crucial difference: a Statement of Choices is not legally binding. It's advisory. A doctor can't be legally compelled to follow it in the same way they're required to follow an Advance Health Directive. If you want your treatment preferences to carry legal force, you need the AHD.

For most people, the ideal approach is both: an AHD for the binding, specific treatment decisions (CPR, ventilation, tube feeding) and a Statement of Choices for the broader values and preferences that guide decisions in situations your AHD doesn't specifically address.

How to Create a Legally Binding AHD

The process requires three key steps in strict order:

1. Registered medical practitioner consultation and capacity certification — your registered medical practitioner discusses the clinical implications of your treatment decisions and completes the Section 5 capacity certificate on Form 4
2. Witnessing — you sign in front of an eligible witness (JP, Commissioner for Declarations, lawyer, or notary public) as soon as possible after the registered medical practitioner consultation
3. Distribution — copies to your GP, hospital, attorneys, and the Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning for upload to your electronic health record

Each step has specific requirements that, if missed, can invalidate the entire document. The witnessing rules alone exclude relatives, beneficiaries, paid carers, and treating healthcare providers from acting as your witness.

Get the Queensland-Specific Document Right

A generic "living will" template won't work in Queensland. Our Queensland Advance Directive & Living Will Kit is built around the actual statutory requirements of the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 — with section-by-section guidance for Form 4, clinical phrasing that avoids the ambiguity loophole, and a witness eligibility checklist tailored to Queensland law.

See more Queensland guides →