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Contact Details

Phone
+64 27 549 6161
Email
alison.douglass@barristerschambers.co.nz

University Links

Position
Honorary Senior Lecturer
Department
Bioethics Centre
Qualifications
LLB ( University of Canterbury) MBHL (University of Otago)
Teaching
Guest lecturer, Dunedin School of Medicine Advanced Learning in Medicine ALM-5.
Memberships
  • Deputy Chair, Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal appointed October 2018
  • Past Chair, Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ACART membership 2011–2017)
  • Past convenor of the New Zealand Law Society Health Law Committee

Research

Alison was the 2014 recipient of the New Zealand Law Foundation International Research Fellowship. Her legal research project, based from the Bioethics Centre, involved a comparative analysis of English mental capacity law with New Zealand law, the Protection of Personal Rights Act 1988 and the Code of Health and Disability Consumers' Rights. Alison published a law reform report: A Douglass, Mental Capacity: Updating New Zealand’s Law and Practice (Report for the New Zealand Law Foundation, Dunedin, July 2016) ISBN 978-0-473-40973-9

Read the report at:
www.alisondouglass.co.nz

In 2017 the Law Foundation awarded a further grant to write a book to be published in 2019, (Victoria University Press) “Assessment of Capacity: A New Zealand Guide” with Dr Greg Young, consultant psychiatrist and Professor John McMillan, Bioethics Centre, co-authors of the practice guidance: “A Toolkit for Assessing Capacity'.

Additional details

Barrister, practising from Barristers Chambers, Dunedin, specialising in health and disability law and ethics. http://www.barristerschambers.co.nz

Publications

Douglass, A., Young, G., McMillan, J., & Co-authors of "A toolkit for assessing mental capacity". (2021, July). Using a capacity-based approach when working with those living with mental challenges: What does this mean in practice? Panel discussion at the New Zealand Medico-Legal Congress: Analysing the Interface of Clinical and Legal Practice, Healthcare Policy, Regulation, and Biomedical Ethics, Wellington, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Douglass, A., Young, G., & McMillan, J. (2020, September). Assessment of mental capacity: A New Zealand guide for doctors and lawyers. Bioethics Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar]. Other Research Output

Vara, A., Young, G., Douglass, A., Sundram, F., Henning, M., & Cheung, G. (2020). General practitioners and decision-making capacity assessment: The experiences and educational needs of New Zealand general practitioners. Family Practice, 37(4), 535-540. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmaa022 Journal - Research Article

Douglass, A., Young, G., & McMillan, J. (2020). Assessment of mental capacity: A New Zealand guide for doctors and lawyers. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington Press, 607p. Authored Book - Research

Douglass, A. (2019, September). Best interests: A standard for decision-making. Verbal presentation at the Mental Capacity Law Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

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