EPOA and Guardianship for Aged Care (Australia 2026)

This is general information, not personal legal or financial advice. For your family's situation, speak to a solicitor and use the free official services listed at the end.

The hardest truth in aged care planning is also the simplest: an enduring power of attorney can only be made while a person still has the mental capacity to understand and sign it. Dementia Australia and every state authority are explicit on this point. Once your parent can no longer understand the decision, it is legally too late to appoint anyone, and your family is left with the slower, more stressful tribunal route.

The word 'enduring' is the key. A general power of attorney ends the moment the person loses capacity. An enduring power of attorney is the opposite: it is designed to keep working precisely when your parent can no longer manage their own affairs. That is why it is the document that matters for ageing and dementia.

Setting this up early is not about handing over control. While your parent has capacity, they remain in charge. The EPOA simply sits ready, so that if a stroke, a fall or progressing dementia takes their capacity, a trusted person can pay the bills, manage the home, deal with Centrelink and the bank, and consent to care without a court process. Starting early also means your parent can take part in the conversation and make sure their own wishes are recorded.

In most of Australia, decision-making power is split into two areas, and they usually need two different documents.

• Financial, legal and property: an enduring power of attorney (financial) lets the appointed person pay bills, run bank accounts, deal with investments and property, and liaise with Centrelink and financial institutions on your parent's behalf.

• Personal, lifestyle and medical: this covers where your parent lives, the services they receive, and consent to medical treatment. In most states this needs a separate appointment, such as an enduring guardian or a medical/health decision-maker.

The exceptions matter. In Queensland and the ACT, a single enduring power of attorney can cover both financial and personal/health matters, and you can name different people for each area. In Victoria, finances and personal matters are handled under an Enduring Power of Attorney, but medical decisions sit separately under an Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker. Getting the right combination of documents for your state is what prevents a gap when a real decision has to be made.

A practical warning: an attorney appointed only for finances cannot consent to medical treatment unless they are also appointed as a medical decision-maker or guardian. Families are often caught out by this at the hospital bedside.

The same idea has different names in each state and territory, and a document valid in one place is not automatically valid in another. If your parent lives in one state and you live in another, or they move into care interstate, check the documents are recognised where care is delivered.

• NSW: two documents. An Enduring Power of Attorney for financial and property decisions, and an Enduring Guardianship for lifestyle, health and personal decisions.

• Victoria: an Enduring Power of Attorney covers financial, legal and personal matters; medical decisions need a separate Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker.

• Queensland: one Enduring Power of Attorney can cover both financial and personal/health matters; an Advance Health Directive can give specific directions about future treatment. New approved forms have applied since 30 November 2020.

• ACT: like Queensland, one Enduring Power of Attorney can cover both finances and personal/health matters.

• South Australia: an Enduring Power of Attorney covers financial matters; an Advance Care Directive covers personal, lifestyle and health decisions (so a separate guardian document is not needed).

• Western Australia: an Enduring Power of Attorney covers financial matters; an Enduring Power of Guardianship covers personal and lifestyle decisions, with an Advance Health Directive for medical, dental and surgical choices.

• Tasmania: an Enduring Power of Attorney covers financial matters; an Enduring Guardian covers personal and health decisions.

Because the rules genuinely differ, the safest path is to use your own state or territory's official statutory forms (your state Public Trustee, Public Guardian or Public Advocate publishes them) and have a solicitor check execution. A small witnessing error can void the whole document.

An advance care directive (sometimes called a living will) is separate from an EPOA. It records your parent's own values, preferences and wishes for future medical care, and can also formally name a substitute decision-maker for when they can no longer decide.

The directive's name and what it can include differ by state and territory. The substitute decision-maker it appoints may be called an enduring guardian, a medical treatment decision-maker, or fall under a power of attorney, depending on where you live. Every state and territory has a statutory form for appointing a substitute decision-maker.

An advance care directive does the job an EPOA cannot: it captures what your parent actually wants (for example, around resuscitation, hospital transfers or comfort-focused care), so the person making decisions, and the care team, are guided by your parent's voice rather than guesswork. For someone with a dementia diagnosis, recording this early, while they can still take part, is one of the kindest things a family can organise.

If your parent has already lost capacity and there is no valid EPOA or guardian in place, no document can be made retrospectively. Instead, a family member or anyone with a genuine concern for their welfare applies to the state guardianship tribunal, which can appoint a substitute decision-maker. Tribunals also step in where an existing document is deficient or inappropriate.

Tribunals split the appointment the same way the documents do. A guardian is appointed to make personal and lifestyle decisions (where the person lives, services, medical treatment). An administrator (Victoria, Queensland) or financial manager (NSW) is appointed to make financial and property decisions.

• Victoria (VCAT): there is generally no application fee for a guardianship and administration case. The tribunal needs current medical evidence (usually within the last three months) addressing decision-making capacity. Urgent matters can be heard quickly; standard matters take longer.

• NSW (NCAT, Guardianship Division): you lodge a guardianship and/or financial management application with supporting medical evidence from a treating health professional. Contact the Guardianship Division on 1300 006 228.

• Queensland (QCAT): there is no fee to apply for guardianship or administration. If your parent already made an EPOA or advance health directive, you must attach copies and give the attorney's contact details.

The tribunal will only appoint someone if the medical evidence shows the person cannot make the relevant decisions, and the tribunal is satisfied the order promotes their wellbeing. This process is slower and more stressful than having an EPOA ready, which is exactly why early planning matters so much.

The new rights-based Aged Care Act commenced on 1 November 2025, and it changed the language families see in the My Aged Care system. Understanding the difference avoids confusion when you ring on your parent's behalf.

• Registered supporter: helps your parent make and communicate their own decisions about aged care. It is built on supported decision-making, keeping the older person in control. It does not, by itself, give legal authority to decide for them.

• Appointed decision-maker: a person who holds guardianship, an enduring power of attorney, or similar legal authority under a Commonwealth, state or territory arrangement, and can therefore act on the older person's behalf, but only within the scope of that legal authority.

On 1 November 2025, existing My Aged Care 'representative' relationships that were active on 31 October 2025 and had not opted out automatically became 'registered supporter' relationships. If you held an EPOA or guardianship, you are recorded as an appointed decision-maker. The practical point for families: registering as a supporter so you can speak to My Aged Care is not the same as holding legal authority to make decisions. For binding financial or personal decisions, you still need the underlying EPOA, guardianship or tribunal order. You can register or update these arrangements by calling My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, or by uploading documents through the My Aged Care online account.

You do not have to work this out alone, and you should not have to pay for the basics. These services are free, independent and government-funded.

• My Aged Care: 1800 200 422, Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm. For registering supporters or appointed decision-makers, uploading documents, and navigating assessments and services.

• OPAN (Older Persons Advocacy Network): 1800 700 600. Free, independent and confidential advocacy to help older people and their families understand and exercise their aged care rights and resolve concerns with providers.

• Services Australia Financial Information Service (FIS): 132 300, Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. A free service that helps you understand the financial implications of aged care costs and fees, with phone, video and in-person appointments. It does not sell products.

• For the legal documents themselves: your state or territory Public Trustee, Public Guardian or Public Advocate publishes the official forms and plain-language guides. A solicitor can ensure the documents are correctly worded and witnessed for your state.

If your parent has a dementia diagnosis, the National Dementia Helpline (1800 100 500) and Dementia Australia's planning-ahead resources can help you sequence these documents while your parent can still take part.