Ethics and medical law
Consent, capacity, confidentiality, professional duties and end-of-life law in Australia. Ethics stations are in every AMC clinical exam.
High-yield points
Valid consent needs capacity, voluntariness, adequate information and must be specific to the procedure.
Rogers v Whitaker (1992): doctors must disclose material risks that a reasonable person, or this patient, would consider significant.
Capacity is decision-specific: can the patient understand, retain, weigh up and communicate a choice? Adults are presumed to have capacity.
A competent adult can refuse any treatment, even life-saving treatment.
Mature minors can consent if they are Gillick competent; some procedures (e.g. sterilisation) need court approval (Marion's case).
Confidentiality exceptions: patient consent, legal requirement (mandatory reporting, notifiable diseases, court order), and serious threat to someone's life, health or safety.
Mandatory notification to AHPRA of practitioners who practise while intoxicated, engage in sexual misconduct, place the public at risk through impairment, or depart significantly from accepted standards.
Open disclosure after adverse events: acknowledge, apologise ('I am sorry'), explain, and describe what will be done.
India vs Australia
Where the answer the AMC marks correct differs from what’s usually taught in Indian MBBS.
| Aspect | India (MBBS)What you learn in MBBS | Australia (AMC)What the exam marks as correct |
|---|---|---|
| Regulator | National Medical Commission. | AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia; 'Good medical practice' code of conduct. |
| Consent | Family often involved in decisions; written consent forms. | Competent adult decides (Rogers v Whitaker, material risk). Family don't consent for a competent adult. |
| End of life | Passive euthanasia allowed with safeguards; active not. | Voluntary assisted dying is legal in every state under state law, with eligibility and waiting rules. |
| Deaths needing reporting | Medico-legal cases go to police for inquest. | Unexpected, violent or unnatural deaths, and some others, are reported to the coroner; don't sign the death certificate. |
Regulator
India (MBBS)
National Medical Commission.
Australia (AMC): what the exam expects
AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia; 'Good medical practice' code of conduct.
Consent
India (MBBS)
Family often involved in decisions; written consent forms.
Australia (AMC): what the exam expects
Competent adult decides (Rogers v Whitaker, material risk). Family don't consent for a competent adult.
End of life
India (MBBS)
Passive euthanasia allowed with safeguards; active not.
Australia (AMC): what the exam expects
Voluntary assisted dying is legal in every state under state law, with eligibility and waiting rules.
Deaths needing reporting
India (MBBS)
Medico-legal cases go to police for inquest.
Australia (AMC): what the exam expects
Unexpected, violent or unnatural deaths, and some others, are reported to the coroner; don't sign the death certificate.
The Australian context
Voluntary assisted dying is legal under state legislation in every state (with eligibility and waiting rules), unlike in India. Medical practice is regulated nationally by AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia under 'Good medical practice: a code of conduct for doctors in Australia'.