Project description

End of Life Law for Clinicians (ELLC) is a free training program for medical practitioners, medical students, nurses, and allied and other health professionals about the law relating to end of life decision-making. It seeks to improve clinicians’ knowledge and awareness of the law at end of life and support their delivery of quality end-of-life and palliative care.

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Learning options

ELLC offers courses (online training modules) on palliative and end-of-life law which include the following 13 topics:

  • The role of law in end of life care
  • Capacity and consent to medical treatment
  • Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment
  • Advance care planning and advance care directives
  • Substitute decision-making for medical treatment
  • Legal protection for administering pain and symptom relief
  • Children and end of life decision-making
  • Futile or non-beneficial treatment
  • Emergency treatment for adults
  • Managing conflict
  • Voluntary assisted dying
  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and end of life law
  • Inclusive end of life decision-making with people from diverse populations.

ELLC is complemented by End of Life Law in Australia, a resource that provides accurate, relevant information for the community about the law at end of life in each State and Territory.

Target audience

A course is available for:

  • medical practitioners and medical students
  • nurses
  • allied health and other health professionals

Funder

Australian Department of Health and Aged Care

Cost for participant

Nil

Registration required

Yes

For further information

To learn more, download a free ELLC brochure (264kb pdf) or the ELLC Training Curriculum 2023-2026 (284kb pdf). Register at the End of Life Law for Clinicians training portal.

E-mail: endoflifelaw@qut.edu.au

End of Life Law in Australia website

Last updated 06 December 2023

Expected outcomes

Funded through the National Palliative Care Program, the End of Life Law for Clinicians course aims to address current gaps in clinicians’ knowledge of end of life law. Each training module takes approximately 15-30 minutes to complete. Course content includes an overview of the law and its application to clinical practice, case studies, legal case examples, and self-assessment activities. The online training is complemented by the End of Life Law in Australia website.

Access Course

End of Life Law for Clinicians

Learning options

The online course comprises ten modules covering the following topics:

  1. The role of law in end of life care
  2. Capacity and consent to medical treatment
  3. Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment
  4. Advance Care Planning and Advance Care Directives
  5. Substitute decision-making for medical treatment
  6. Providing palliative medication
  7. Children and end of life decision-making
  8. Futile or non-beneficial treatment
  9. Emergency treatment for adults
  10. Managing conflict.

Target audience

Medical specialists including GPs and trainee specialists involved in end-of-life decision making, junior medical practitioners in the hospital setting, medical degree students.

For further information

For further information please contact Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR), and Penny Neller, Project Coordinator, ACHLR.

email: endoflifelaw@qut.edu.au