The Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 was amended in September 2024. The legal changes place greater emphasis on supported decision-making – a person with impaired decision-making ability must be given every opportunity to make their own (supported) decision, before an application for guardianship is made, or before a guardian is approached to make a decision on their behalf.
Rights, will and preference approach
The Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 (the Act)
- Prioritises supported decision making for people with impaired decision-making ability; and
- Ensures that the person’s will and preferences guide the decisions that affect them.
- Substitute decision-making, such as by a guardian, is a last resort.
Shared responsibility
All people have the right to make their own decisions. People with impaired decision-making ability must be provided with the support they need to make decisions. It is the role of carers, families, and service providers to support a person to make their own decision in the first instance. Types of decision-making support may include providing information in a format the person can understand (such as Easy Read), discussing their choices in plain language, assisting the person to weigh up the positive and negative outcomes of different decisions, by personally visiting an option such as a house or place of recreation, or meeting a person from a potential support organisation.
Guardian decision-making (private and public guardianship)
An appointed guardian (including the Public Guardian) has a responsibility to the person under guardianship, to:
- Give effect as far as practicable, to the person’s views, wishes and preferences; and
- Act in a manner that promotes the personal and social wellbeing of the person.
- This means that a guardian can only override a person’s will and preference where there is a risk of serious harm.
More Information
For more information on the Office of the Public Guardian: www.publicguardian.tas.gov.au
For further information about supported decision-making, La Trobe University provides a free supported decision-making resource available online: supportfordecisionmakingresource.com.au