1. Preamble
1.1 The AMA Code of Ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide
doctors in their relationships with patients, colleagues, other healthcare professionals and
society and serves an essential role in setting and maintaining the standards of ethical behaviour
the profession and society expects of doctors.
1.2 This Code has grown out of other similar ethical codes stretching back into history including
the Hippocratic Oath and those from other cultures.
1.3 The primary duty of doctors is to promote the health and well-being of individual patients
who entrust themselves to medical care in accordance with good medical practice and
professional conduct.
1.4 The doctor-patient relationship is a partnership based on mutual respect, collaboration and
trust where both the doctor and the patient have rights as well as responsibilities.
1.5 While doctors have a primary duty to individual patients, they also have responsibilities to
other patients, colleagues, other healthcare professionals and the wider community including
future generations as well as to themselves in terms of their own health and well-being.
1.6 Every doctor has an ethical obligation to uphold the values and principles of the medical
profession. The principles and guidance outlined in the AMA Code of Ethics apply to all doctors
regardless of their professional roles and in all settings, whether face-to-face or technology
based.
1.7 The values and ethical principles that guide the medical profession’s relationship with
patients and the wider community during ordinary clinical circumstances must continue to be
upheld during extraordinary events such as disasters and armed conflicts.
2. The Doctor and the Patient
2.1 Respect for patients
2.1.1 Treat the patient as an individual, with respect, dignity and compassion in a culturally and
linguistically safe and appropriate manner.
2.1.2 Recognise that there is a potential power imbalance in the doctor-patientrelationship.
While doctors have the highly specialised knowledge and skills required to provide quality
healthcare, some patients may feel vulnerable and exposed due to the very personal and
physical nature of the doctor-patient relationship. Patients in minority or marginalised
populations may be more vulnerable to imbalances of power and may require additional
support to ensure they receive equitable access to medical care.
2.1.3 Provide evidence-based, patient-centred care fairly, justly, impartially and without
discrimination on the basis of age, disease or disability, creed, religion, ethnic origin, gender
identity, sex characteristics, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, criminal
history, social standing or any other similar criteria.
2.1.4 Recognise that Australia is a culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse nation,
understanding that the basic values, principles and assumptions of Western medicine are
themselves culturally determined and may not reflect the same values, principles and
assumptions of people from different cultural backgrounds.
2.2 Patient decision-making
2.2.1 Empower and support patients to participate in managing their own healthcare,
respecting their autonomy, goals of care and treatment preferences.
2.2.2 Respect the patient’s right to make their own healthcare decisions which involves the
right to accept or reject advice regarding treatments and procedures including life-sustaining
treatments.
2.2.3 Communicate effectively with2.2.3 Communicate effectively with the patient and obtain their consent before undertaking
any tests, treatments or procedures (there may be an exception where consent cannot be
obtained in emergency circumstances). For consent to be valid, it must be informed, voluntary,
made with appropriate decision-making capacity and relevant to the decision at hand.
2.2.4 Patients should be provided with reasonable and clinically appropriate timeframes for
decision-making that enable them to seek appropriate support if required, process relevant
information and reflect on the decision at hand. Except in emergency settings, this may be best
achieved by offering a cooling off period before a final decision is taken.
2.2.5 Provide a telehealth service only when it is clinically appropriate, safe to do so and with
the patient’s consent, ensuring the patient understands and is able to balance the inherent risks
or limitations associated with telehealth including risks to the privacy and security of their
personal information with their preferences and needs.
2.2.6 Respect the patient’s right to refuse or withdraw their consent and ensure this does not
compromise the doctor-patient relationship or appropriate provision of other treatment and
care.
2.2.7 Practice continuous, open, informed communication and collaboration with the patient
and, where relevant, the treating healthcare team along with the patient’s carers, family
members and/or medical treatment decision-maker in keeping with the patient's preferences
and interests with due regard for patient confidentiality.
2.2.8 Respect the patient’s request for a support person.
2.2.9 Respect the patient’s right to choose their doctor freely, recognising that a patient may
have more than one established doctor-patient relationship.
2.2.10 If a patient seeks a second opinion from you, consider the opinion of the previously
consulted doctor when undertaking your own assessment. If your opinion differs significantly
from that previously provided explain to the patient the reasons for your conclusions.
2.3 Patients with limited, impaired or fluctuating decision-making capacity
2.3.1 Presume an adult patient has decision-making capacity, the ability to make and
communicate a decision, unless there is evidence to the contrary.3
2.3.2 Respect the patient’s ability to participate in decisions consistent with their level of
capacity at the time a decision needs to be made.
2.3.3 Recognise that some patients may have limited, impaired or fluctuating decision-making
capacity and ensure that any assessment of capacity is relevant to a specific decision at a
particular point in time.
2.3.4 Consider that some patients will have capacity to make a supported decision while others
will require a decision made by

y a medical treatment decision-maker.
2.3.5 Recognise that a young person may have sufficient capacity to make a specific health care
decision on their own behalf.
2.4 Protection of patient information
2.4.1 Respect the patient’s right to know what information is held about them, to access their
medical records and to have control over its use and disclosure, with limited exceptions.
2.4.2 Maintain the confidentiality of the patient’s personal information including their medical
records, disclosing their information to others including family members only with the patient’s
express up-to-date consent or as required or authorised by law. This applies to both identified
and de-identified patient data.
2.4.3 Ensure patient information is kept secure.
2.4.4 Maintain accurate, contemporaneous medical records that support and facilitate
continuity of care.

2.4.5 Facilitate the ongoing care of your patients, including the management of their medical
records, if closing or relocating your practice.