In a former life, before I moved to Australia, I was employed by a Catholic School as an Educational Assistant (“EA”) to assist teachers. Educational Assistants need to be skilled to address the needs of different exceptionalities, including but not limited to, behavioural, developmental, physical, blind, intellectual, deaf/hard of hearing, gifted and autism.
After spending a semester with a special needs student, I thought about those special needs students often. The effort and love it takes to care for them is immense. I wondered what happens as they and their parents got older. Who would look after them then?
In Queensland, a Guardian is a person who helps adults with impaired decision making capacity by making certain personal and health care decisions on their behalf. Similarly, an Administrator is tasked with dealing with the estate of the adult by making certain financial and legal decisions on their behalf for example, managing investments, paying bills and maintaining property – essentially acting as the adult’s attorney.
The Office of the Adult Guardian is an independent body that protects the rights and interests of adults who have impaired capacity to make their own decisions, as the Guardian and Administrator of the adult. They also have investigative powers to protect adults with impaired capacity from abuse or financial misconduct However, for many families, they do not want a stranger to determine who will make decisions on the adult’s behalf. In that case, the family of the adult must apply to Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal to appoint a Guardian and/or Administrator.
The benefit in making a successful application to be a Guardian and/or Administrator is that the loved ones of the adult (as a Guardian and administrator) is able to then direct:
• where they live;
• what support services they receive;
• with whom they have contact or visits;
• their general health care matters;
• their business decisions;
• their investments including superannuation; and
• their day-to-day issues.
I believe that with a successful application, there is peace of mind knowing that the loved ones are not just helping out, but now are legally responsible and entitled to do the best for the adult. A Guardian or Administrator isn’t necessarily a role for one person. In some cases, three people working together – joint and severally, are able to manage the roles and do the best for the adult.
If you would like to discuss the roles of a Guardian and/or Administrator, please contact the team at Macrossan & Amiet. We can help.
