Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Supported Decision Making in Australia

Disabled people, including dementia sufferers, will be appointed ''supporters'' to help them make decisions as part of an overhaul of the state’s outdated guardianship laws.

AG Robert Clark
The Napthine government will introduce new legislation into Parliament on Wednesday to clarify guardianships rules and expand guardianship orders.

The changes will update and simplify the state’s guardianship laws, which first passed in 1986 and were mainly designed to help people with intellectual disabilities, who were then moving out of institutions and into the community.

A 2012 report by the Victorian Law Reform Commission made 440 recommendations to rewrite the state’s guardianship laws, which are now mainly used by dementia sufferers, the mentally ill and those with acquired brain injuries.

''The new legislation will make it easier for individuals and their families to provide for their current and future decision-making needs through guardianship and administration arrangements,'' Attorney-General Robert Clark said.

Full Article and Source:
Victoria Law Changed to Appoint Supporters for Disabled and Dementia Sufferers

5 comments:

  1. JoecitizenWednesday, August 20, 2014 5:18:00 AM

    We can learn a lot from folks on the other side of the world. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. ThelmaWednesday, August 20, 2014 5:54:00 AM

    I think that goes two ways, Joe,
    because the Australian law would protect citizens from unfounded findings of incapacity.

    ReplyDelete
  3. StandUpWednesday, August 20, 2014 9:13:00 AM

    Why oh why oh why can't the greatest country in the world lead the world in such an important reform? We're talking about supported decision making now, but implementing it on a national basis may be years away. And it doesn't have to be this way.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BAEAWednesday, August 20, 2014 9:39:00 AM

    Supported decision making is the only alternative to guardianship that makes sense. Who wants one stranger making all decisions for you and handling your money with no monitoring?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bendigo BankstersWednesday, August 20, 2014 5:24:00 PM

    The devil is always in the details, the one questions that I have is, does the legislation allow for charges of FRAUD against Guardian for and on behalf of a Ward or Protected Person to be prosecuted against a perpetrator without the need of the Ward to testify (when they may not be able to do so).

    Its always nice to see new rules, the biggest question will those rules be followed, investigated properly if they are not and serious consequences if they are broken...??

    ReplyDelete