Tasmania Law Reform Institute

Issues Paper: Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act

The Tasmania Law Reform Institute is seeking submissions on its latest Issues Paper, Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 (Tas).

The Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 (Tas) (the Act) covers the laws relating to people with disability who are unable to make decisions about their personal and financial matters or medical treatment.

According to the ABS, approximately one quarter of Tasmanians report living with a limitation, restriction or impairment which has lasted or is likely to last for at least 6 months and restricts every day activities.

The Review examines the roles of administrators, guardians, persons responsible, the Guardianship and Administration Board and Public Guardian in making substitute decisions for people with disability who are deemed unable to make their own decisions.

The Issues Paper is calling for community feedback on how informal arrangements to support decision-making are working for Tasmanians with disability.  The Paper also presents a range of options for reforming guardianship laws in Tasmania, including new ways to provide people with support to make their own decisions.

The Review was commissioned by then Attorney-General, The Hon. Vanessa Goodwin MLC in December 2015 in response to developments in law and policy nationally and internationally that promote the human rights of people with disability, including the right to be treated equally before the law.

In 2008, Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (the Convention).  The Convention requires equality for people with disability, including the opportunity to participate equally in the legal system.  In light of the Convention, a number of Australian law reform commissions have reviewed, or are reviewing, their guardianship laws.  The ALRC has stated that reform to State guardianship laws is critical in order to implement the Convention.

With the Act now more than 20 years old, this review of Tasmania’s guardianship laws is timely and will ensure reforms are consistent with the international human rights framework and responsive to the needs of all Tasmanians.

In the 2016-2017 financial year, more than half of applications the Board received related to people over the age of 65.  Consistently since 2012, the most commonly identified disability of people who were the subject of an application has been dementia.

In the last financial year, the Board managed its largest workload to date. It saw an increase in the number of applications by 49% compared with the previous financial year, with a total of 1772 applications made.

The TLRI deadline for responses has been extended to Monday 19th March 2018.

For more details please see the of the Issues Paper: Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act.

For more information or queries contact Law.Reform@utas.edu.au or phone the Institute on (03) 6226 2069.

Published on: 19 Dec 2017