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Find out more about the Royal Commission
The Disability Royal Commission examines the effect of the NDIS on guardianship and financial administration orders
25/11/2022
To start proceedings, the Commission heard from Dr Colleen Pearce, Victorian Public Advocate. The Public Advocate was established under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 and continues under the Guardianship and Administration Act 2019. The guardian or administrator is appointed with legal authority to make decisions for the person about specific personal or financial matters. They make decisions that reflect the personâs will and preferences, unless it would cause serious harm to them. Â
Dr Pearce stated that 50 per cent of represented persons are NDIS participants and this creates significant administrative burden for the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA). Of particular concern is that OPA guardians are increasingly undertaking the role of case managers for NDIS clients, often due to a participant exhausting their NDIS funding. Guardians are making more than twice as many decisions for NDIS matters (an average of 5.63) compared with non-NDIS matters (2.7). OPA has not been funded for this additional work. Â