Posted October 12, 2023
Closing date: November 29, 2023
Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) has commenced public consultation on financial enduring powers of attorney model laws – please see: https://consultations.ag.gov.au/families-and-marriage/epoa/. The Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety encourages organisations and/or your national peak bodies to provide feedback directly to the Commonwealth AGD through the survey questions or a separate submission by 29 November 2023. … Continued
Posted October 9, 2023
A letter from a stranger and an hour-long meeting is all it took to strip Martin* of his ability to see his family and live in his own home. A state guardian now controls his life, against his will, because a tribunal deemed him incapable of making his own decisions.
Posted June 23, 2023
Uli had no idea that it was a criminal offence to out himself, just as it is for more than 46,000 people around the country who have their finances controlled by the state because they’re deemed to lack capacity due to dementia, mental illness, brain injuries and intellectual disabilities.
Posted June 1, 2023
Closing date: July 30, 2023
Did you know that disabled people cant legally talk to the media about their guardianship or administration hearings and experiences? They have to go to VCAT to ask permission. If they are unhappy with what happened to them at VCAT, they have to go and ask VCAT for permission to talk to the media about that. Uli wants to change the law so that people with disability have the equal right to speak about their experiences just like everyone else. You can support the campaign by signing a petition or endorsing a letter to the Attorney general.
Posted June 20, 2022
As a disability rights lawyer who represents people with disabilities and their families every day, I know that there is often a lot of confusion and fear around guardianship laws; especially about why they exist. This article is designed to fill you in on how these laws came to be and what role they have in a modern Australia that acknowledges the human rights of people with disability.
Posted May 6, 2022
This case is about when and how an appointed guardian can authorise the use of forcible physical restraint in order to administer medication to people under their guardianship. This case concerned an older woman, HYY, who was under a guardianship order. HYY was voluntarily admitted to hospital for treatment of her psychological and physical health conditions. However, at times during her hospital stay HYY refused to take her anticoagulant medication.
Posted November 15, 2021
The moment Britney was placed under that conservatorship, she was considered disabled by the law, allowing her to be dehumanised and commodified.
Posted March 12, 2021
The report focuses on matters relevant to people with cognitive disabilities, including mental health and neurological disabilities, which may affect their ability to make decisions without support. The 25 recommendations support reform to improve laws and practices and reduce the impact these laws have on people with cognitive disabilities. Such reforms will enable Australia to meet its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Posted February 28, 2021
One of the “most significant reports” ever released by Victoria’s Office of the Public Advocate will recommend that every person entering Australian prisons be screened for cognitive disabilities – a move it says will trigger support for thousands of at-risk people, reduce recidivism rates and, ultimately, change the justice system forever.
Posted October 22, 2020
The new Guardianship and Administration Act 2019 came into effect on 1 March 2020. The new Act includes a presumption that a person has the capacity to make decisions unless evidence is provided otherwise and recognises that a person also has decision-making capacity if they can make decisions with support. This is an important shift away from the best interest approach to one where it is acknowledged that decisions should reflect the person’s will and preferences, unless it would cause serious harm to the person. Join Dr Norman Chia, an Advocate Guardian at the Office of the Public advocate, as he step us through the newly created Supported Decision Maker roles under the Act.
