Enduring Power of Guardianship WA: How to Appoint an Enduring Guardian

What an Enduring Power of Guardianship Is (and Is Not)

Western Australia uses terminology that catches people out. An Enduring Power of Guardianship (EPG) appoints someone — called an "enduring guardian" — to make personal and lifestyle decisions on your behalf if you lose the capacity to make them yourself. That covers medical treatment consent, accommodation choices, and support services.

It does not cover money. If your enduring guardian decides you need to move into a residential aged-care facility, they cannot access your bank account to pay the bond. Financial decisions require a completely separate document: an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). This split is set out in WA's Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 — in some other states, a single document can cover both.

The other critical distinction: an EPG sits below an Advance Health Directive (AHD) in the statutory hierarchy. If you have a valid AHD that addresses a specific treatment decision, your enduring guardian cannot override it, subject to the limited statutory exceptions. The AHD wins. The EPG only activates for decisions the AHD is silent on.

Who Can You Appoint?

You must be an adult with full legal capacity, and the enduring guardian you appoint must also be at least 18 and have full legal capacity. You can appoint:

• A sole guardian — one person makes all decisions independently
• Joint guardians — two people who must agree unanimously on every decision (this can stall critical choices if they disagree)
• Substitute guardians — backup appointees who step in if your primary guardian is unable or unwilling to act

The form also lets you limit the guardian's powers. You might authorise them to make all lifestyle decisions but restrict medical treatment decisions to specific scenarios, or you might allow them to consent to residential care but not to specific surgical procedures. These limits must be written clearly on the EPG form — vague restrictions create ambiguity that the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) may need to resolve.

A practical warning about joint guardians: in a medical emergency where doctors need consent within minutes, joint guardians who cannot be reached simultaneously create a dangerous gap. Unless you have a specific reason for requiring unanimity, a sole guardian with a named substitute is usually the safer structure.

The Two-Stage Signing Process

This is where many DIY EPGs fail. The process has two distinct stages, and both must follow the same witnessing protocol:

Stage 1 — Appointor signs. You (the appointor) sign the EPG in front of two independent adult witnesses. At least one witness must be authorised to witness statutory declarations under the Oaths, Affidavits and Statutory Declarations Act 2005. That includes currently registered doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, JPs, police officers, and nurses. Both witnesses must be present at the same moment you sign.

Neither witness can be the person you are appointing as guardian. Neither can be a substitute guardian named in the form.

Stage 2 — Appointee signs acceptance. Your chosen guardian must then sign the acceptance section of the form — also in front of two independent witnesses meeting the same criteria. The guardian does not need to sign at the same time or place as you, but they must sign after you. An EPG where the guardian signed before the appointor is invalid.

The same rule about authorised witnesses applies to the acceptance: at least one of the guardian's two witnesses must be on the authorised-witness list. And neither the appointor (you) nor the person who signed on your behalf can serve as a witness for the guardian's acceptance.

Common Mistakes That Invalidate an EPG

The Office of the Public Advocate flags these as the most frequent rejection reasons:

1. Using a retired professional as the authorised witness. A retired GP, retired pharmacist, or retired lawyer loses their authorised-witness status the moment they stop actively practising. Even if they held the qualification for thirty years, retirement disqualifies them.

2. Having the guardian sign before the appointor. The acceptance must come after the appointment. If you mail the form to your guardian and they sign first, the entire EPG is void.

3. Failing to witness the acceptance. Some people assume the guardian's acceptance does not need its own witnessing. It must also be witnessed by two people meeting the statutory criteria; the same witnesses may be able to witness both stages if they remain independent, while fresh witnesses can avoid confusion.

When Does the EPG Take Effect?

Only when you lose the cognitive capacity to make reasonable personal decisions. Unlike an EPA (which can be drafted to operate immediately), an EPG is dormant until a medical practitioner or other qualified assessor determines that you can no longer make decisions for yourself.

This triggers a practical question: who decides you have lost capacity? A health professional can assess whether you have lost capacity. If family members disagree about capacity or the guardian's authority, the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) may need to become involved.

The EPG ceases immediately upon your death. At that point, your will (not your EPG) governs what happens next.

Storing and Distributing the EPG

Once both stages are signed and witnessed, the EPG should be stored and distributed exactly like an AHD:

• Keep the original in a secure, accessible location at home
• Give certified copies to the appointed guardian(s) and substitute guardian(s)
• Provide a copy to your GP and ask them to note it in your medical file
• Upload a scanned copy (black-and-white, 300 dpi) to your My Health Record via myGov

WA does not have a centralised register for EPGs. If the document cannot be found during a crisis, the hospital will follow the statutory hierarchy of treatment decision-makers for non-urgent treatment — which may not match your intentions.

The Practical Starting Point

An EPG works best when paired with an AHD. The AHD handles the specific treatment decisions you can anticipate in advance (refuse ventilation in a persistent vegetative state, consent to palliative sedation). The EPG covers everything else — the unpredictable decisions about accommodation, support services, and medical consent that nobody can fully script in advance.

The Western Australia Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes both the AHD and EPG workflow, with annotated form guides, a witnessing compliance checklist, and a guardian evaluation worksheet to help you choose the right person for the role.

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