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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2699 ..

. This right that the patient has to information is thus based not on the doctor's judgement but on legally established criteria to certain information. However the High Court did not clearly establish the criteria, and allowed exceptions in emergencies and where the doctor can prove that he or she reasonably believed that disclosure of a risk would prove damaging to a patient.

. Thus questions remain - What about patients who waive their right to be informed and tell the doctor to do whatever he or she thinks is best? What about answering patients' questions - does the doctor have to spell out every little detail? What is an emergency anyway? What happens when the patient is unconscious or unable to understand what is going on? What can guardians consent to or refuse? What rights do families have? What if family members disagree about treatment? How much information must be given? How probable must adverse reaction be before it must be disclosed to the patient?

. These are only some of the questions that arise in daily practice.

. The lack of clear answers has resulted in uncertainty, communication breakdowns and unmet expectations in many situations.

. The problem is that while the law has established the importance of informed decision-making by patients through judicial decisions, it does not set out specific and detailed guidance to doctors and patients just what information should be given in any particular type of case.

. For this reason, this paper sets out the law as it stands, and raises the question of whether, and if so what, legislation or guidelines should be developed to make the situation clearer.

. In this paper, we are seeking the views of those concerned at two levels. We want to know what people recommend should happen in relation to consent, or what I would call `substantive' issues.

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