Unilateral Medical Decision Making in Australia and New Zealand

In an article forthcoming in the Journal of Law and Medicine, Lindy Willmott, Benjamin White, and Jocelyn Downie examine the law in Australia and New Zealand that governs the withholding and withdrawal of ‘futile’ life-sustaining treatment.  



The authors concluded that the general legal position is that doctors are able to determine unilaterally when treatment is futile and so need not be provided. This is either because futile treatment is not in a person’s best interests or because not providing such treatment does not breach the criminal law. They note, though, that the position in New Zealand appears less certain given conflicting judicial statements about the need for family consent.