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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-09 Daily Xml
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Plan Ahead Week

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding ageing well.

Leave granted.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: In a medical emergency or as a result of cognitive decline, it is not always possible for us to communicate our wishes. Will the minister please update the council on how South Australians can safeguard their rights as part of Plan Ahead Week?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:05): I would like to thank the honourable member for her question. I am sure we all hope that one day, if we suffer a serious injury or become unwell, we are still able to express our end-of-life wishes to our family. However, sometimes a sudden accident or debilitating illness prevents us from being able to do so. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that our worlds can be completely turned upside down in the blink of an eye.

Today I would like to encourage all South Australians to make their wishes known, to take control of their futures and safeguard their rights ahead of the possibility that they cannot make decisions for themselves one day.

This week is Plan Ahead Week. It is a time to complete various legal tools available to you, such as advance care directives, enduring powers of attorney, wills and registering to be an organ or tissue donor. Discuss your wishes, values and preferences with your family and friends. These completed tools mean your loved ones will know your choices and be prompted to act upon them if you cannot express them for yourself at some future time. Leave copies of your documents with your loved ones, your GP, your lawyer, your local hospital.

The Office for Ageing Well, a division of SA Health, coordinates Plan Ahead Week every September, supported by Legal Services Commission of South Australia, Office of the Public Advocate, DonateLife SA and community organisations.

Ian Henschke is the Plan Ahead ambassador for the Office of Ageing Well as well as the chief advocate for leading advocacy organisation National Seniors Australia. He shared a story of how planning ahead helped his brother, Richard—and Richard's family—when they were faced with potentially making tough medical decisions for him in his final days. Richie was a smoker who developed a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lost his ability to swallow. Ian remembers feeding his brother his last meal before he died—a bowl of soup.

In what was no doubt an extremely emotional time, a palliative care specialist was called in. What made it easier for Richard and his loved ones was that Richard had an advance care directive. He had written he was not to be intubated or any other extraordinary measures taken. As a result, Ian feels Richard had what is known as 'a good death' with no pain. In Ian's own words:

Fewer than one in seven Australians has an Advance Care Directive. Because Richard had one, he didn't spend his last days in intensive care being given costly and futile treatment. We need to have the discussion with our family and our GP and then write our wishes down. When asked, nearly three quarters of us say we want to die in our own home. Only one in seven Australians will. So, write down what you want. Make it your resolution. While you're at it, update your will and enduring power of attorney. The ageing of Australia means the number of deaths will double in the next 25 years. If you want to die in your home or a hospital room surrounded by family, not in an intensive care ward surrounded by machines, do something about it. If you do, you will save your family awful worries. I learnt that from my brother. Thank you, Richie.

I encourage everyone to do what Richie did and plan ahead. Plan ahead to reduce your family's stress and conflict during times of crisis. Plan ahead to safeguard your rights. Plan ahead to give you peace of mind and ensure that decisions that are made for you are consistent with your wishes. Plan ahead to control your future. In that journey, I would encourage you to have a look at the Plan Ahead website, which links to a variety of legal tools which I encourage everyone to complete. That website is found at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/planahead.

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