What it does
The Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 (the Act) establishes a comprehensive statutory regime for the appointment, powers, duties and oversight of guardians and administrators for adults with impaired capacity. Chapter 3, Part 1 (the focus of the provided extract) is the gateway provision: it empowers the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the tribunal) to make appointment orders under s.12 where the tribunal is satisfied of three cumulative criteria in s.12(1): (a) the adult has impaired capacity for the relevant personal or financial matter; (b) there is a need for a decision or a likelihood of unreasonable risk to the adult’s health, welfare or property; and (c) without an appointment the adult’s needs will not be adequately met or their interests adequately protected. The appointment may be on terms the tribunal considers appropriate (s.12(2)) and may be made on the tribunal’s own initiative or on application by the adult, the public guardian or an interested person (s.12(3)). Express carve-outs apply: s.12(4) states the section does not apply to guardians for restrictive practice matters under ch.5B, which are governed by s.80ZD.
The regime is not limited to standard appointments. Section 12A (inserted by the 2019 amendments) permits appointment of an administrator for a financial matter where the adult is a “missing person” (defined in s.12A(2) as whereabouts unknown, reasonable search efforts made, and no contact for at least 90 days with household members or likely correspondents). The adult must usually reside in Queensland and there must be a need or likely adverse effect on interests without an appointment. The Act applies with necessary modifications (s.12A(3)), and applications are limited to spouses, relatives, the public trustee or interested persons (s.12A(5)). Section 12B prevents overlap with the public trustee’s existing administration under the Public Trustee Act 1978, s.104(1), but permits substitution where the public trustee acts under s.104(2).