Our Government is committed to ensuring that our Guardianship and Administration framework is contemporary and reflects best practice.
As part of our reforms, the Guardianship and Administration Amendment Bill 2022 (the Bill) has now been released for public consultation.
The Bill seeks to amend the Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 (the Guardianship Act) and the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2020, and adopts a number of recommendations made as part of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute Report into the Guardianship Act as well as matters arising from the Independent Review of the Public Trustee.
Importantly, more than 60 per cent of the recommendations from the Review of the Public Trustee have now been successfully implemented.
Key changes in the Bill include:
- establishing rights-based principles as a framework for the way decisions under the Guardianship Act are to be made;
- moving away from a 'best interests' approach towards a 'will and preference' approach, which requires substitute decision-makers to recognise the wishes of the person when making any decision;
- strengthening the criteria for circumstances in which an emergency order can be made;
- establishing the requirement to hold a hearing in relation to applications for emergency orders;
- recognising the role of families, carers and other significant persons in the life of a person with impaired decision-making ability; and
- establishing a decision-making process that requires those making a decision for a person to consider whether the decision can be postponed in circumstances where a person is likely to regain decision-making ability.
The Bill also reflects the Guardianship and Administration Amendment (Advance Care Directives) Act 2021 commencing on 21 November 2022.
To view the Bill and for details on how to make a submission, go to www.justice.tas.gov.au/community-consultation.
I encourage everyone with an interest in this important area to have their say before submissions closed on Friday, 28 October 2022.
