133Protection for certain persons who do not administer lifesaving treatment

133 Protection for certain persons who do not administer lifesaving treatment

133 Protection for certain persons who do not administer lifesaving treatment

(1) This section applies if a protected person, in good faith, does not administer lifesaving treatment to another person in circumstances in which—

(a) the other person has not requested the administration of lifesaving treatment, and

(b) the protected person believes on reasonable grounds the other person is dying after self-administering or being administered a prescribed substance in accordance with this Act.

(2) The protected person is not liable, civilly, criminally or under an administrative process, for not administering the lifesaving treatment.

(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the failure to administer the lifesaving treatment does not constitute—

(a) professional negligence or another contravention of a duty of care that would incur professional liability, or

(b) a contravention of professional ethics or standards or a departure from accepted standards of professional conduct, or

(c) unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct for the purposes of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, or

(d) a contravention of principles of conduct applicable to the protected person’s employment.

(4) In this section—

ambulance officer means a person employed or engaged, including on a voluntary basis, by the provider of an ambulance service to provide medical or other assistance to persons in an emergency.

lifesaving treatment means—

(a) lifesaving medical treatment, or

(b) life-preserving medical treatment.

protected person means—

(a) a registered health practitioner, or

(b) an ambulance officer, or

(c) a person, other than a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), who has a duty to administer lifesaving treatment to another person.