The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The estimated population in Australia is 21.3 million.

Currently, there is no national uniformity of Advance Directives in Australia. Depending on the state, there are different laws regulating Advance Directives.

Advance Directives in Australia can be named as:

Three Australian states (Victoria, South Australia and Queensland) and two Territories (Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) now have legislation that provides for AD. New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia do not have similar legislation, but ADs may still be valid under common (judge-made) law.

In different States, there are different acting legal documents

• Victoria: Medical Treatment Act 1988 (Vic)
• South Australia – there are three different laws related to ADs: Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act 1995 (Consent Act), Guardianship and Administration Act 1993 (Guardianship Act) and Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984 (Powers Act)
• Queensland - Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld)
• Australian Capital Territory - Medical Treatment Act 1994 (ACT), based on the Medical Treatment Act 1988 (Vic). 2007 update Introduction.
• Northern Territory - Natural Death Act 1988 (NT)
• New South Wales recognises informal instructional health ‘Advance Care Directives’ and has issued guidelines for their use (Using Advance Care Directives, 2004 (NSW))

Even though each state has its own regulation for Advance Care Directives, efforts to elaborate a national regulation are being carried out and recently a National Framework for Advanced Care Directives has been published in 2011 as the first step towards the achievement of this aim.

There is no official procedure for or registry of AD in Australia.

A register was set up in MedicAlert Foundation where people from all Australian States can lodge their AD paying an annual subscription fee. In some hospitals and aged care facilities, there are mechanisms to record whether a patient or resident has an advance directive. AD could be kept in a safe place at home, in a bank vault or a lawyer’s office. Because of that, in an emergency, it can be difficult to access the AD and to ensure a person’s wishes will be known. 

The National Framework for Advance Care Directives (2011) does not recommend the establishment of registers because of its high cost and low reliability, and instead promotes the inclusion of ACD in the electronic file of patients, carry personal wallet cards, or use magnets that affix a copy of ACD form to the fridge. 

There is no official format of AD in Australia. Adv ance directives are designed in different ways and different forms are appropriate in different contexts. There are different forms for advance directives across Australia. To be legally valid advanced directives must meet the specific criteria for each State/Territory.

The existing forms of advance directives are as follows:

• Victoria Advance Care Planning Information Sheet and Advanced Care Plan for the Non-competent person information sheet
• Queensland’s Advance Health Directive
• The Northern Territory’s Direction
• The South Australian Anticipatory Direction is a health care advance directive that is activated only when the person is terminally ill or permanently unconscious.
• Australian Capital Territory - Schedule 1, form 1 of the Medical Treatment Act 1994 (ACT)
• New South Wale’s informal instructional health ‘advance care directives’
• Tasmania. Enduring guardianship appointment form.
• Western Australia Statement of Choices and Plan contact information sheet.