Legal capacity in a health care context: an opportunity to review.

The Commonwealth government, as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is committed to the equal recognition, before the law, of persons with disability. Consistent with the obligations imposed under the Convention, the Commonwealth government has initiated an inquiry and report from the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC). The ALRC is to examine and report on the laws and legal frameworks within the Commonwealth jurisdiction that deny or diminish the rights of persons with disabilities to equal recognition before the law and their ability to exercise their legal capacity. The Commonwealth inquiry provides an opportunity for all State and Territory jurisdictions to examine their respective legislative provisions which benchmark standards of legal capacity for decision-making and the resulting appointment and role of substitute decision-makers.