Guardianship

Guardianship is the framework under which someone is authorised to make personal and health decisions for an adult who can no longer make them. The authority may come from a private appointment (you choosing your own Enduring Guardian in advance) or from an order made by a state guardianship tribunal when no valid appointment exists. It deals with lifestyle, accommodation and medical matters — the financial side is handled separately under a Power of Attorney or by an administrator. The whole point of planning ahead is to keep these decisions in trusted hands rather than the tribunal's.

If you have not appointed your own guardian and you lose capacity, a family member or the Public Guardian may apply to a tribunal for a guardianship order. Example: Because Frank never appointed an Enduring Guardian, his children had to apply to the guardianship tribunal for authority to move him into care. Each state runs its own tribunal (for example NCAT in NSW, VCAT in Victoria, QCAT in Queensland) with broadly similar but not identical powers.