7 July 2026
Mr Peter Rundle MLA
Chair
Community Development and Justice Standing Committee
Parliament House
4 Harvest Terrace
WEST PERTH WA 6000
By submission portal and email: cdjscsubmissions@parliament.wa.gov.au
Dear Mr Rundle
INQUIRY INTO GUARDIANSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM IN WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
I have only recently become aware of the above inquiry. I write this submission in the hope that the Committee will consider it.
I am the former Chair of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia. I was the Chair of the Commission during Project 114; Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) (Project 114). I write in my personal capacity only and not on behalf of the Commission.
The terms of reference for Project 114 required the Commission to review the Act. Unlike your Committee’s terms of reference, the Commission could not, and so did not, review the guardianship and administration system in Western or how the Public Trustee and the Office of the Public Advocate deliver services.
However, during its review, the Commission consulted with people with lived experience and organisations that represent or advocate on their behalf. During these consultations, the Commission learned of significant concerns that these people and bodies have with the organisations that form part of the guardianship and administration system in Western, including the Public Trustee and the Office of the Public Advocate. Some of these learnings are recorded in the Project 114 Report at pp 382-385.
As the Commission said in the Foreword to the Project 114 Final report, it took into account what it learned during consultations in determining how the Act should be changed so as to ‘enable Western Australia’s decision-making law in the 21st century to respect and promote the dignity and autonomy of those affected by it’ and ‘to support people affected by the Act to maintain their central role in decisions about their own lives’.
Relevant to your review, I urge your Committee to accept the Commission’s conclusion that the current Act does not achieve those goals. If the Act does not reflect those goals, then the system as a whole cannot either.
The guardianship and administration ‘best interests’ model of the Act is 35 years old and is based on much older views that people who have had a guardian or administrator appointed should be treated like children. It is therefore unsurprising that the people the subject of guardianship or administration orders often feel that they are ignored and that the current system does not give them the opportunity to exercise autonomy over their lives.
A new Act is required to achieve these goals. Amongst other things, the new Act should reflect:
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21st century views about the rights of every person to dignity and autonomy.
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That those rights should only be taken away when there is clear and cogent evidence that it is appropriate to do so.
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If those rights are taken away, there should be an obligation on the appointed guardian or administrator to make decisions that reflect the views and wishes of the represented person, unless the explicit statutory circumstances which justify those views not being recognised are met.
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An obligation on the Public Advocate and the Public Trustee to educate people subject to orders under the Act about personal and financial decision-making to increase their capacity to make their own decisions.
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The right of people the subject of applications under the Act for the appointment of a guardian or administrator to have access to an independent advocate when they appear in the State Administrative Tribunal
As legislators, I urge you to accept the Commission’s conclusion that Western Australia needs new guardianship and administration law and to work towards achieving that reform. Reform of the law would go some way to ensuring that the Guardianship and Administration system is improved and modernised.
I am happy to discuss any issue raised by the Committee’s terms of reference. My contact details are at the top of this letter.
Yours faithfully