Guidelines for medical research procedures involving adult patients under a legal incapacity

The Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 (the Act) sets out the law that governs when a medical research procedure can be performed on a person aged 18 years or older who has a disability (that is, an intellectual impairment, mental disorder, brain injury, or physical disability or dementia), where that person is incapable of deciding whether to consent to the procedure.

Prior to 15 July 2006, the Act required the approval of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for the involvement of such a patient in a medical research procedure. On 15 July 2006 amendments to the Act that removed the requirement for VCAT consent came into effect. A different series of steps must now be complied with instead.

An overview of these new provisions together with a flow chart, is available from the Health legislation site.