Medical decisions
As a young person, there will be times where you’re sick or may need to seek medical advice or procedures.
This section lets you know how medical decisions about you, as a young person, are made.
Medical decisions Can I make my own medical decisions as a young person? If I’m under 16, do medical professionals need to at least consider what I want? Can medical professionals ignore my decisions? How old do I have to be to get birth control or an abortion? I’m unable to provide my consent to a medical decision, who makes my decision for me? Can medical professionals ever treat me without my consent or my next-of-kin’s consent? I don’t want medical treatment done on me, can I refuse? Can doctors overrule my guardians’ decision to not go ahead with medical treatment for me?
As a young person, there will be times where you’re sick or may need to seek medical advice or procedures.
This section lets you know how medical decisions about you, as a young person, are made.
You can give your own consent to medical decisions from the age of 16. You also have a right to refuse medical treatment from the age of 16. If a child or young person has the capacity to consent, they can also choose to consent or refuse to consent. Before then, your parents or guardians play a key role in making medical decisions, except for a few specific medical decisions. However, even if you’re too young to consent, you should be informed about your medical situation and decisions in language that you understand.
Even if you’re under 16, you still have a right to autonomy (independence to make your own decisions) and to make decisions about your health and lifestyle.
New Zealand has signed an international agreement called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC), which promises to give you these rights. It is also what’s called the Gillick principle. This means that doctors and medical professionals need to consider how able you are to understand the situation and to make decisions. At any age, they should take your views into account. If they think you’re mature enough to make a reasonable decision yourself, then they should follow your wishes. Usually, the older you are, the more likely it is that you will be mature enough to make your own decisions.
At any age, particularly under 16, medical professionals may decide that there is some reason why you’re not able to make good decisions about your own health. This could be because you’re unconscious, in shock, mentally incapacitated, or their assessment of your maturity.
If this happens, it’s up to your parent, guardian, caretaker or closest relations to provide their consent for you.
You can obtain or buy contraception at any age. You can also give consent to get an abortion at any age.
If you need to get some medical information on this, please contact your local Family Planning clinic. Their services are free for anyone under the age of 22 and are a New Zealand resident.
If you’re unable to give your consent to medical treatment, for example, if you’re unconscious at the time, then your next-of-kin will make the decision. This is usually your parent or guardian. If both your parents have passed away, this would usually be your caretaker/guardian, e.g. a sibling or another member of your family. If you’re married or in a civil union, your partner will decide, but if you’re in a de facto relationship your partner is not considered to be your next-of-kin (but you can give them this power by writing up something called a Power of Attorney).
If you’re under 18, there is an exception to consent for blood transfusions. If you need a transfusion, and if someone needed to provide consent (either you or your next-of-kin) wasn’t available, medical professionals can go ahead and give the transfusion without consent.
You have a right to refuse medical treatment. If a medical professional decides that you’re able to provide your own consent, and you refuse to have the treatment, the medical professional must not go ahead with the medical treatment.
If your parent, guardian or next-of-kin refuses consent, the medical professional must not go ahead with the medical treatment. However, if you’re under 17 and the medical professional thought that the person refusing consent was deliberately trying to harm you by refusing consent, they could ask the Ministry for Children – Oranga Tamariki (MCOT) to get involved. In extreme situations, the Family Court could make a guardianship order, meaning that MCOT would take over as your legal guardian. It would then be up to them to refuse consent on your behalf.