Review your documents

Keeping your documents up to date

Your advance care planning documents should reflect your current wishes. It's okay to change your mind about a choice you've made or recorded. You can change or cancel your documents at any time, as long as you have decision-making capacity.

If your situation changes, review your documents and make sure they still match your values and goals. This helps your family, doctor and health care team understand your preferences.

When to review your documents

Review your documents regularly, especially if there are changes to your:

• preferences or goals
• personal or living situation
• substitute decision-maker
• health condition.

These moments are a good time to review your documents and check they still reflect what you want.

Changing or cancelling your documents

You can change or cancel your documents at any time, as long as you have decision-making capacity.

Each state and territory has different advance care planning documents, forms and legal requirements. That means there may be different processes for updating or cancelling documents depending on where you live.

Check what applies in your state or territory.

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia

After you make changes

Talk about the changes with your substitute decision-maker, family and health care professionals.

Give a new copy to anyone who may need it, especially if they had the old version. That way, the correct version will be easy to find if it's ever needed.

Store your updated documents in a safe place.

Read more about storing your documents.