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The Department of the Attorney-General and Justice (AGD) is proposing that the Health Care Decision Making Bill 2023 be introduced into Parliament in May 2023.

The bill seeks:

  • To fill a gap in Northern Territory law concerning health care decision making by family, friends and others relating to persons who may have lost some or all of their capacity to make appropriate health care decisions for themselves;
  • To harmonise the principles for health care decisions and processes so that, for most situations, the same law applies regardless of whether the health care decision maker is authorised under the Guardianship of Adults Act 2006 or the Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 or is a family or friend decision-maker.

This work builds on previous consultation undertaken in 2019, which included targeted stakeholder consultation.

AGD has released an Exposure Draft of the Health Care Decision Making Bill 2023 and is seeking submissions on the proposals outlined in this draft by Monday 17 April 2023.

To find out more about the proposal please see below:

Consultation Process

AGD is seeking feedback and comment in response to the Exposure Draft Bill. The closing date for submissions is Monday 24 April 2023. Electronic copies of submissions are preferred.
Please email submissions to Policy.AGD@nt.gov.au or via post to:
Director, Policy Coordination
Department of the Attorney-General and Justice
GPO Box 1722
DARWIN NT 0801

Non-confidentiality of submissions

Submissions may be made publicly available, and may be published on the Department’s website, unless clearly marked as ‘confidential’. The Department may draw upon the contents of submissions made and quote from them or refer to them in reports, which may also be made publicly available.