The Tasmania Law Reform Institute’s Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 is the first comprehensive review of the act since it was implemented 20 years ago. 

Released on Monday, the report was commissioned by former Attorney General Vanessa Goodwin in 2015 and has recommended a major overhaul of the state’s guardianship laws, to ensure people with a disability are treated equally before contemporary laws. 

The act currently covers people who, because of a disability, are unable to make decisions about their own financial and personal matters, including medical treatment.

Report author Kate Hanslow said one of the key recommendations was to remove the need to establish whether a person has a disability, with a focus on whether a person is able to make decisions with the appropriate support. 

“The laws should reflect how we can help support people to make their own decisions,” she said. 

“We do have an ageing population and there is a real need to have laws that deal with these issues and that deal with them in a contemporary way.

“Most of the people who are dealing with these laws are older Tasmanians, and this isn’t likely to change. 

“This is an opportunity for us to get the laws right so that we can continue to promote the rights of our older population.”

Mrs Hanslow said the majority of applications before the Guardianship and Administration Board involved people older than 65, with the most common disability being dementia.

Other recommendations included a supported decision-making framework; for decisions about a person’s life being based upon their views, wishes, preferences and rights and removing the ‘best interests’ test; and reforms to prevent, better detect, and respond to abuse and neglect of people with a need for decision-making support.

The report also recommended clarifying the legal status of advanced care directives and including them in the legislative framework. 

“The institute received a lot of feedback that, while advance care directives are made and used in Tasmania, it would be useful for their role to be confirmed by legislation,” Mrs Hanslow said.

“The proposed provisions will strengthen the role of advance care directives in supporting people to make their own decisions and giving them confidence that those decisions will be respected.”

Attorney General Elise Archer said the government was “closely considering the significant body of work that makes in excess of 140 recommendations” and was committed to ensuring vulnerable Tasmanians have access to appropriate legal protections.