Gillick-competent children are entitled to give consent because they have sufficient maturity, understanding and intelligence to make decisions about their own body and life. Such decisions should be respected.
The parental right to consent terminates when a child is deemed Gillick-competent. The assessment of Gillick competence is a question of fact for the doctor to determine in each case.
Gillick was approved by the High Court of Australia in a case known as Marion's case. The Gillick case holds that a child's capacity increases as they approach maturity or in other words, the authority of a parent decreases as their child's capacity increases.
Gillick competency applies mainly to medical advice but it is also used by practitioners in other settings. For example, if a child or young person: would like to have therapeutic support but doesn't want their parents or carers to know about it. is seeking confidential support for substance misuse.
'Gillick competence' and the 'mature minor'
The legal test used to determine if a child is capable of giving consent is when he or she “achieves a sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him or her to understand fully what is proposed”. This is referred to as 'Gillick competent' or a 'mature minor'.
A child younger than 14 may be competent to consent to treatment . Conversely, a child aged 16 or over may lack competence . Health practitioners need to make an assessment of competency to consent for all young people aged under 18 years (or 16 years in South Australia) .
Competencies are defined at three levels of attainment: Level 1 – knowledge and understanding Level 2 – application of knowledge and understanding Level 3 – reasoned advice and depth of technical knowledge.
The result of Gillick is that in England and Wales today, except in situations which are regulated by statute, the legal right to make a decision on any particular matter concerning the child shifts from the parent to the child when the child reaches sufficient maturity to be capable of making up their own mind on the ...
The House of Lords' decision of Gillick was delivered in 1985. The Court held that children who are under 16 years, but have the intelligence and understanding to be competent to give consent to a particular treatment, may give consent for themselves.
In order to do so, the child or young person must have a 'sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him or her to fully understand what is proposed'. This is often referred to as 'Gillick competence' or the 'mature minor'.
In Australia, there is no minimum age which a child can legally refuse to see a parent following divorce or separation. Of course, once children of divorce reach the age of 18 years they can make their own decisions about where they live or which parent they want to spend time with.
When can I get contraception? There is no age limit preventing you from buying contraception like condoms at a chemist, or from seeing a doctor about contraception without parental consent. Certain medical contraceptives, such as contraceptive pills, require a prescription that you can only get from a doctor.
The legal age for consensual sex varies between 16 and 17 years across Australian state and territory jurisdictions (see Table 2). For other sexual activities, the criminal legislation relating to different types of sexual behaviours and interactions varies across Australian jurisdictions. Tas.
Gillick competence is concerned with determining a child's capacity to consent. Fraser guidelines, on the other hand, are used specifically to decide if a child can consent to contraceptive or sexual health advice and treatment.
Under 'the rule of law', Government and citizens (and other individuals) are bound by the law and all are accountable under the law. The decisions of the courts themselves similarly must be lawful and can be appealed or reviewed by higher courts for error.
This law and the resulting guidelines apply to the British situation, only. They have no legal validity in Ireland. Subsequently, guidance has been issued for UK doctors on judging the Gillick competence of a child (The Fraser guidelines - detailed in the Appendix).
Consent for children and young people
For children and young people under the age of 16, consent may be given by: a guardian of the child. a person who has been acting in place of a parent, if there is no guidance in NZ or no guardian can be found with reasonable diligence who is capable of giving consent.
Under s 36 of the Care of Children Act 2004, a child of or over the age of 16 years can consent to any medical or surgical treatment or procedure. If the consent of any other person to any medical or surgical treatment or procedure is required, consent may be given: By a guardian of the child (usually a parent); or.
You can give your own consent to medical decisions from the age of 16. You also have a right to refuse medical treatment from the age of 16. If a child or young person has the capacity to consent, they can also choose to consent or refuse to consent.
If they choose to use birth control, they also have the right to choose what kind of birth control to use. Nobody else can make this decision for them – not their social worker, probation officer, group home, parent or foster parent.
Both parents have equal rights to request access to their child's medical records unless there is a court order to the contrary. Either parent can consent to treatment but if a dispute arises, recommend that parents resolve it between themselves, or through the Family Court of Australia process if necessary.
In Singapore, the age a person is legally considered an adult is 21. However, Singapore has no statute law that defines the legal age to give consent for medical procedures. Wherever feasible and reasonable, parents or guardians of minors should be directly involved in giving consent.
My training and experiences in the Army provided valuable insights into the principles and guidance into the makings of a true leader, none more impressive than the three Cs: competence, commitment and character.
The four stages of competence are unconscious competence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence.
Competencies fall into three main categories: Core, Cross-functional and Functional. All are important, but there is a hierarchy.