ACAT Guardianship Application in the ACT: Process and What to Expect

When ACAT Gets Involved

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal handles guardianship matters under the Guardianship and Management of Property Act 1991. An ACAT application is usually the last resort — it means someone has lost decision-making capacity and either no suitable substitute decision-maker exists, the existing arrangements have broken down, or there is a dispute about who should be making decisions.

For families who have done advance care planning properly, ACAT involvement is almost entirely avoidable. For those who have not, it can be an expensive, emotionally draining process that removes decision-making from the family entirely.

Who Can Apply

Any "interested person" can lodge an ACAT guardianship or financial management application. In practice, this includes:

• A family member or close friend of the person who has lost capacity
• The Public Advocate (the ACT's independent statutory watchdog)
• The Public Trustee and Guardian (PTG)
• A treating health professional
• An aged care facility concerned about a resident's welfare

The person who has lost capacity (the "protected person") is also entitled to be heard at the hearing, though in practice they may not have the capacity to participate meaningfully.

No Filing Fees

One distinctive feature of ACAT's Guardianship stream is that it charges no application fees. This removes a financial barrier to protective intervention, but it also means that family disputes over decision-making can escalate to a tribunal hearing without the deterrent of costs.

Compare this with the ACT Supreme Court's probate filing fees, which range from nil for estates under $50,000 to $2,961 for estates over $1 million. ACAT's no-fee structure reflects the protective rather than adversarial nature of the proceedings — but the hearings themselves can still be confrontational.

What ACAT Considers

When deciding whether to appoint a guardian or financial manager, ACAT applies a set of principles from the Guardianship and Management of Property Act 1991:

• The person's wishes, as expressed when they had capacity (including any documented Health Direction, Statement of Choices, or EPoA)
• The least restrictive intervention — ACAT prefers to leave existing informal arrangements in place if they are working
• The person's current best interests, including their physical, emotional, and social wellbeing
• Whether the proposed guardian is suitable and willing to act

ACAT can appoint a family member, a friend, or the PTG as guardian. It can also limit the guardian's powers to specific areas — healthcare decisions only, or financial management only — rather than granting broad authority.

Guardianship vs. an EPoA

The key difference between an ACAT-appointed guardian and an attorney under an EPoA is who made the choice. An EPoA is the principal's own decision about who they trust. An ACAT guardian is the Tribunal's decision about who is most appropriate.

If you have a valid EPoA in place, ACAT will generally not need to appoint a guardian — the EPoA already provides a legally recognised substitute decision-maker. ACAT only intervenes in EPoA cases if:

• The attorney is not acting in the principal's best interests
• The attorney is making decisions inconsistent with the principal's known wishes
• There is evidence of financial abuse, neglect, or undue influence
• The attorney has become incapable of acting (through their own illness, death, or incapacity)

When ACAT revokes an EPoA, the principal cannot appoint a replacement (because they no longer have capacity). ACAT must then appoint a guardian from the available options — which may include the PTG if no suitable family member or friend is available.

The PTG as Guardian of Last Resort

The Public Trustee and Guardian acts as both financial manager and personal guardian when no one else is available or suitable. The PTG charges fees for its services — $340 to $522 per hour for professional time, plus sliding-scale commissions on capital managed.

For families, a PTG appointment often feels like losing control entirely. The PTG is a government institution, not a family member. Its decisions are guided by institutional policies and statutory obligations, not by the intimate knowledge of the person's values and preferences that a well-chosen attorney would bring.

How to Avoid ACAT Entirely

The most effective protection against ACAT involvement is completing your advance care planning while you have capacity:

1. Execute an EPoA under the Powers of Attorney Act 2006, naming a trusted attorney for healthcare and financial decisions
2. Execute a Health Direction under the Medical Treatment (Health Directions) Act 2006, documenting your treatment refusals
3. Complete a Statement of Choices recording your values and care preferences
4. Ensure the Health Direction and Statement of Choices are properly witnessed, distributed, and uploaded to MyDHR, and distribute the EPoA to the relevant people and providers

If ACAT never needs to determine who should make decisions for you — because you already made that choice — the Tribunal has no role to play.

The ACT Advance Directive & Living Will Kit walks you through each of these steps in sequence, including an attorney selection scorecard to help you choose someone who will hold firm under family pressure and clinical uncertainty.

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