Page 3217 - Week 11 - Thursday, 12 September 1991
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This Bill is the centrepiece of the legislative package and the establishment of the tribunal is overdue in this jurisdiction. It has been patiently awaited by the local community for a number of years.
In July 1990, while in opposition, I called on the Alliance Government to take action to implement the Australian Law Reform Commission's 1989 report on the guardianship and management of property of persons in the ACT who are incapable of looking after their own interests. I find it unacceptable that ACT residents have had to rely on the archaic provisions of the Lunacy Act, while New South Wales residents have had access to a more enlightened regime and while the previous Government had access to the Australian Law Reform Commission's views on the matter. There was really no good reason for delay in this reform.
It is a measure of the Labor Government's concern for this sector in our community that we have taken the impetus for reform in this area and moved very quickly to advance this legislation. No longer should a person with a disability be dealt with under the Lunacy Act. We must take a more socially aware approach to such matters.
Mr Speaker, this Guardianship and Management of Property Bill will establish a guardianship and management tribunal which will utilise the existing structures of the ACT Magistrates Court and be administered by that court. I stress that the tribunal is not part of the Magistrates Court and the tribunal will convene away from the court premises. It is necessary, however, that the president of the tribunal be an experienced legal practitioner because basic legal rights are under consideration.
The president of the tribunal may sit alone, but in most guardianship matters the president will have available the services of expert assessors who will be appointed as members of the tribunal. The tribunal will conduct its inquiries in an informal manner but will be obliged to observe the rules of natural justice. The tribunal will not be bound by the rules of evidence or legal technicalities, but in its inquiries it will inform itself of relevant matters in such manner as it thinks fit.
Above all, the Bill, at clause 3, stipulates that not only the tribunal but each guardian and manager shall exercise powers and duties in accordance with specified principles. Those principles state that the paramount consideration is the welfare and interest of those persons who are subject to orders of the tribunal. The principles are important and they provide guidance to ensure that incapacitated persons are protected, but in such a way as is the least intrusive.
The Bill stipulates how a guardian or manager may be appointed and contains restrictions on the powers that a guardian or manager may exercise on behalf of the incapacitated person. For example, subclause 7(3) of the
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