About Autonomy First
Our People
Autonomy First was founded by Dr Jane Lonie and Michael Perkins
Clinic at MQ Health
The Capacity & Capability Clinic is located at Suite 401, Level 4, 2 Technology Place, Macquarie University.
Professional Training
Autonomy First offers training on autonomy assessment and supported decision making to professionals, referrers and their personnel.
Public Education
In its wider role for the community, Autonomy First provides education on capacity and capability consequences of a range of diagnoses and medico-legal needs.
MQ Health at Macquarie University provides location, administrative support and non-legal clinician support for Autonomy First’s Capacity & Capability Clinic.
Autonomy First Lawyers, not MQ Health, has responsibility for the Clinic’s integrated medico-legal service delivery and proposing any follow-on pathways or solutions. The choice of who helps implement these always remains with the client.
Latest Blog Posts
Document Signature and Witnessing Over Audiovisual Media Guide
The eight practices and procedures here are a practical guide for effective signature and witnessing of documents affecting in particular the health, wealth and wellbeing of individuals and their families. In 2020 four escalating developments require greater care: (1) pandemic social distancing, (2) signature and witnessing over audiovisual media, (3) virtual meetings, and (4) remote collaborative computing. For difficult or complex cases Autonomy First Lawyer’s Capacity & Capability Clinic at MQ Health can help.
Australia’s journey to a rights-based civil society
The Capacity & Capability Clinic delivers a blended service, an early evaluation and report about a person’s capacity and capability in the context of a particular decision, document, situation or concern. This responds to growing social and legal needs in Australia’s ageing society.
Failure to test cognitive capacity is an abdication of professional responsibility
Dr Jane Lonie, Clinical Neuropsychologist Consideration of a client's cognitive capacity for decision making extends beyond a conversation with a client to query the client's conversational skill. Awareness of questions to ask and records to make to go beyond that...
Our Top Priorities
The Capacity & Capability Clinic provides Capability Medico-legal Evaluation Reports that serve a wide spectrum of needs.
Reporting
as a medico-legal service on whether a client can give informed consent for a decision. For example, any decision or transaction affecting a client’s health, wealth and wellbeing.
Advising
on capacity and capability consequences of a range of medical diagnoses and medico-legal needs
Supporting
clients to implement supported and substituted decision making when a client is affected by constrained autonomy
Training
on autonomy assessment and supported decision making for professionals, referrers and their personnel.
Educating
clients, and through them their supporting and substitute decision makers, on the legal consequences of any decision or situation of concern.
Upcoming Events
26
March
Client Communications: Taking Instructions in a Digital World
The importance of getting clear and concise instructions from a client cannot be underestimated and doing so remotely is an added complexity that comes with some risk. This session explores measures to put in place and how to spot any warning flags, ensuring clients and practitioners are protected from interference or abuse. This webinar’s organiser is Television Education Network Pty Ltd. It is part of its professional skills development program for lawyers.
15
October
Decision Making Ability
POSTPONED | How Professionals can De-risk Their Client Interactions. What do you do when your client’s decision making ability is in doubt? This one day program equips you with a structured approach to the practical evaluation of client decision making capacity.
“[A] good understanding of the issues surrounding mental capacity is an essential skill for any solicitor who holds himself or herself out as competent to provide legal services to natural persons.” Ryan vs Dalton; Estate of Ryan [2017] NSWSC 1007
Empowering families to age well | Helping safeguard your will and preferences
Our Collaborators
