title: Legal and ethical issues associated with Advance Care Directives in an Australian context.
abstract: The need for appropriate mechanisms guiding end-of-life care is increasingly vital. This commentary compares the use of Advance Care Directives (ACD) in New South Wales and South Australia in order to highlight the inconsistency in Australian legislation, before exploring common problems, legal concerns and ethical issues associated with their application in an adult population. The benefits and detriments of statutory legislation for ACD are also evaluated.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Denniss
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011050:Policy Making; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*
keywords: Advance Care Directive; Australia; end-of-life; ethics; legal issue; living will