Record your choices in South Australia

Record your wishes and preferences

In South Australia (SA), a person with decision-making capacity can record their values, preferences and instructions for future health care and living arrangements in an Advance Care Directive.

An Advance Care Directive is a legal document that lets you record instructions about refusal of specific medical treatments. In SA, only instructions to refuse or withhold treatments are legally binding. Instructions to consent aren’t legally binding. You can complete it by hand or electronically and then print it for signatures.

If you're completing the form electronically, your substitute decision makers and interpreter (if you've used one), have the option to sign the form using a digital signature. Then you can print the form for you and your witness to sign.

If you're using an interpreter, they must complete the interpreter statement section if they assisted in the preparation of your Advance Care Directive.

Visit the SA Health Advance Care Directives page to complete your form online or find more information. There are also short instructions for completing the Advance Care Directive Form [PDF 200 KB].

The Advance Care Directive kit [PDF 750 KB] is available online. You can also get a free hard copy from selected collection points across South Australia. It includes an Advance Care Directive Form and a step by step guide that has everything you need to know to complete your Advance Care Directive. It has example statements, information for substitute decision-makers, witnesses and interpreters, and other important information.

Advance Care Directives made using the previous form (before 1 March 2024) remain legally valid unless replaced by a newer form.

Learn more about expressing your values and preferences or making specific instructions.

Appoint a substitute decision-maker

In SA, the Advance Care Directive Form allows you to appoint an unlimited number of trusted adults to act as your Substitute Decision-Makers. The people you appoint can make decisions about your health care and living arrangements when you're unable to.

You may appoint one or more substitute decision-makers. You can also indicate if you have a ‘first preferred’ choice. You can add conditions to what and how your Substitute Decision-Makers can make decisions on your behalf.  To appoint more than 4, you’ll need to fill in the Appointing Additional Substitute Decision-Makers form and attach it to your Advance Care Directive.

Read more about appointing substitute decision-makers on the SA Health website. The Office of the Public Advocate in South Australia has developed a Substitute Decision-Maker Toolkit guide. It has helpful resources for Substitute Decision-Makers to carry out their role. It also helps people to feel confident that the person they appoint will be able to uphold their wishes.

For more information about substitute decision-makers, read about choosing someone to speak for you.

Storing and sharing your documents

You can find more information about what to do once your Advance Care Directive is complete on the SA Health website.

Read our general recommendations about storing and sharing your documents.

Making changes to documents

In SA, you can’t change an Advance Care Directive after you've completed it. If you wish to change your Advance Care Directive you’ll need to cancel your original Advance Care Directive.

There are 2 ways to cancel an Advance Care Directive.

• Cancel and replace – use this option if you wish to create an updated document.
• Cancel and not replace – complete a formal cancellation of existing document.

If your Advance Care Directive includes an expiry date, then you'll need to complete a new one after it expires.

You can find forms and information about cancelling your Advance Care directive on the SA Health website.

Learn more about making changes to documents.