The campaign is increasing community awareness around the importance of advance care planning to ensure our end-of-life care wishes are known and honoured when the time comes.

Advance care planning in NSW involves appointing an enduring guardian and completing an Advance Care Directive, which is a legal document that lets people know your health care and treatment wishes.

Many people feel uncomfortable thinking and talking about death and dying but it’s important to consider your plans and discuss them openly because you never know what might happen. Thinking about your plans and having discussions about them is crucial to ensure your wishes are clear before you are in a situation, either from injury or illness, where you can no longer make decisions for yourself.

If you are unable to make decisions about your own health, you will need someone else, like a family member or close friend, to make these decisions for you. These types of decisions might include how and where you would like to die, or whether you’re open to organ donation. If this information is not known, it can be incredibly difficult for loved ones to decide, particularly in times of crisis and distress. This can result in decisions that might not align with your own wishes had you been able to communicate them.

Making sure you have advance care planning conversations can alleviate stress and anxiety for both you and your family. It can also help reduce family conflict around decisions and improve the quality of care received. Lack of planning can result in unnecessary hospitalisations for those who wish to die at home, or dying in ambulances or emergency rooms, rather than in a preferred familiar environment.

A completed Advance Care Directive can be uploaded to your My Health Record which can then be viewed by your GP or other registered clinicians with permission. More information about end-of–life care and advance care planning can be found on our website.