It’s important to use a Child Medical Consent form to authorise medical treatments for your minor child when you’re not there.
For instance, your child may need routine treatments (e.g., asthma inhaler) while at daycare or school. Or, they may travel with a sports team or school group and need emergency treatments after an accident.
In any case, if your child isn’t old enough to consent to medical treatments, you’ll likely need to give parental consent.
If caregivers or healthcare professionals act without proper consent, they may face legal consequences (although, in some jurisdictions, there may be exceptions in emergency situations).
Alternatively, your child’s condition could worsen or cause them physical pain while healthcare workers wait for permission to act.
Good news: a Child Medical Consent form helps prevent these situations.
Why should parents make medical decisions for their child?
Parents are responsible for the well-being of their children. Consenting (or refusing consent) to healthcare is a large part of maintaining a child’s quality of life. Of course, when your kids are old enough to understand, you can allow them to participate in medical decisions by:
- Explaining how treatments work, their benefits, and potential side effects
- Allowing them to ask questions
- Asking for their input
- Respecting their feelings
There is no set legal age for a child to consent to medical care in Australia. Rather, a healthcare worker must evaluate each child case-by-case to determine if they’re a mature minor. In this case, the child must demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the proposed treatment.