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.