The authority map, Australia
Centrelink, My Aged Care, the bank, Medicare, the energy company: each one has its own arrangement for letting you act for your parent, set up its own way, and each one can run out. This is the map of them, checked at each organisation’s own page.
| Organisation | What the authority is called | Who can set it up | How | When it runs out or dies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centrelink (Services Australia) | A nominee. Two kinds: correspondence (you claim and manage her payments and services) and payment (her payments come to you, for her use). If she does not want a nominee, you can be a “person permitted to enquire or update” instead. | She does. Logging into her myGov yourself is not the answer: its terms say she must not let anyone else sign in. | She sends the request from her myGov. You accept it, then show photo ID at a service centre, agent or access point. | The request expires if you have not accepted within 14 days. Once in place, the arrangement stays until one of you cancels it. | Source: myGov, my.gov.au (become a Centrelink nominee; terms of use) |
| My Aged Care | Registered supporter (under the new Aged Care Act). Separate from Centrelink. The assessment that starts subsidised aged care is a separate application, which you can make for her with her permission. | You become her registered supporter through My Aged Care. The first aged care step is an assessment, and with her permission you can apply online for her. | Applying for the assessment online takes 15 to 20 minutes and her Medicare card. She can apply if she has care needs and is 65 or older (50 or older for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people). An assessment organisation calls within 2 to 6 weeks; if she is eligible, they visit her at home. Urgent help: 1800 200 422. | Not stated on the source pages. | Source: My Aged Care, myagedcare.gov.au (registering a supporter; apply online; how to apply; should I apply) |
| Medicare (Services Australia) | A financial power of attorney is accepted. | Not stated on the source page beyond the instrument itself. | Not online through myGov. | Not stated on the source page. | Source: Services Australia (Medicare) |
| CommBank | Third-party access: its own form. It covers only the accounts she nominates; you cannot open accounts or apply for credit in her name. | Only she can set it up. | In branch, with you there and ID for both of you. | Removed if she loses financial decision-making capacity. Ask her bank which authority still works after that. | Source: CommBank, commbank.com.au (third-party access) |
| Enduring power of attorney (Queensland) | Enduring power of attorney, Form 9. A bank states an EPOA works before and after she loses capacity. | She signs before an eligible witness: a justice of the peace, a commissioner for declarations, a notary public or a lawyer. The witness cannot be a relation of hers or of her attorney, anyone signing for her, or her attorney; for health matters, not her paid carer or health provider. The witness certifies she appeared to have decision-making capacity. Each attorney then signs to accept. | Queensland has no central register. Send a copy to the Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning (it goes on her Queensland Health hospital record); give certified copies to her attorney and her doctor; if property is involved, her attorney may need to register it with Titles Queensland. | Works before and after she loses capacity (Westpac). Nothing else stated on the source pages. | Source: Qld Government, Form 9 EPOA explanatory guide; Office of the Public Guardian Qld (EPOA); Westpac, westpac.com.au (getting help from someone you trust) |
| Energy retailer (NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, ACT) | Life support registration of the home. | The account holder tells the retailer. | Protections apply from the moment the retailer is told. Within 5 business days the retailer must send a medical confirmation form; he has at least 50 business days to return it. Once registered, the retailer must not arrange to cut his power, and planned interruptions need 4 business days’ written notice. | Not stated on the source pages. | Source: National Energy Retail Rules, rules 124, 124A, 124B (AEMC); AER, Life support registration guide |
| My Health Record | Nominated representative, at the level she picks: General, Restricted or Full. Only Full lets you add information. | She does, from her own record. | She invites you and gets a code. She gives you the code and her date of birth; you enter them with her family name. | The code works once and lasts 30 days. She can change or remove your access at any time. | Source: Australian Digital Health Agency (nominated representatives) |
| Australian Taxation Office | Authorised contact. Primary contact: all his tax affairs. Account contact: only specific accounts, such as income tax or super. You can act for him and get information about his tax affairs. | He does. | Online in ATO online services through his myGov (My profile, then Authorised contacts); by phone, where he proves his identity with questions about his tax records; or by post, which can take up to 28 days. | Not stated on the source page. | Source: ATO, ato.gov.au (update your authorised contacts) |
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