The Disability Royal Commission is holding its 30th public hearing to examine Australian guardianship and administration laws and policies with a focus on how substituted decision-making impacts the rights of people with disability.
The hearing builds on previous and ongoing work of the Royal Commission, including policy roundtables held in May and June on guardianship and support decision-making. To date, 13 of the Commission’s public hearings have raised issues connected to decision-making and guardianship arrangements.
Lived-experience witnesses, advocacy groups, the NDIA, Public Guardians and Public Trustees will give evidence at public hearing 30, which will:
- Explore the barriers for people with disability participating in guardianship and administration proceedings and the impact of the decisions on their lives
- Examine the assumptions about capacity and decision-making, including fluctuating capacity at different times of a person’s life
- Consider why substituted decision-making, such as guardianship and financial administration, appears not to be used as a last resort and why models of supported decision-making are not more widely used as an alternative to substituted decision-making
- Consider what safeguards may be appropriate to reduce violence, neglect and exploitation of people with disability in the context of both substituted and supported decision-making.
The hearing is being held at Novotel, Sydney Olympic Park, and is open for the public to attend.
The Royal Commission has received 1,379 submissions and held 468 private sessions raising issues about guardianship, choice and control, and decision-making as at, November 14, 2022. Submissions remain open until the end of the year.
Find out more at: https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/share-your-story.