The Guardianship Tribunal is a legal tribunal made up of a panel of at least three people. Each of these people has been appointed to the Tribunal because of their particular expertise. Each panel must have at least one legal member, one professional member - for example, a doctor, psychologist or social worker who has experience assessing or treating people with disabilities - and a community member - who has professional or personal experience with people with disabilities.
The Guardianship Tribunal can revoke a financial management order only if:
Most financial management orders are not routinely reviewed by the Tribunal. In some circumstances, the Tribunal can make an order for a specific length of time. A review hearing will be held automatically near the end of the period of the order. A decision will be made as to whether a further order is needed.
An application can be made to the Tribunal to have the manager replaced, if an appointed manager is no longer willing or able to continue as manager or someone believes that the appointed financial manager is not acting in the best interests of the person whose affairs are being managed. In this case, the person’s affairs would continue to be managed but an alternative manager will be appointed.
The Tribunal can refuse to hear an application to review or revoke a financial management order. This may happen if the application does not provide grounds to warrant a review or the Tribunal has previously reviewed or heard an application to revoke the order.
A requested review is not the same as an appeal. The Guardianship Tribunal can hold a requested review if there is new information to consider. In a review, the original decision will not be examined. Any appeal must be made to the Supreme Court or the Administrative Decisions Tribunal.
It is usually necessary to hold another hearing, with everyone who is involved attending. In some cases, hearings can be conducted by phone. The review is held in a similar way to the original hearing but the information being sought will be different depending on the nature of the application.
This application must be supported by current evidence from professionals who have assessed the person and believe the person can now manage their own affairs.
There must be written evidence explaining why the revocation would be in the best interests of the person whose affairs are being managed. Information must be provided about what arrangements are in place to assist the person with their affairs if the order is revoked.
The Tribunal will conduct the hearing with as little formality as possible. People do not usually ask to be represented by a lawyer. If you would like to have a legal or other representative attend the hearing, you must get the Tribunal’s approval. Your representative should make this request in writing to the Tribunal as soon as possible - at least five working days before the hearing. The request should include the reasons you want to be represented. If this is done, the Tribunal will usually make its decision before the hearing date. Otherwise, it will make its decision at the beginning of the hearing. If you want to seek leave to be represented, phone the Tribunal for more information.
The Tribunal is limited in the decisions it can make when considering an application to review or revoke a financial management order. The Tribunal may decide that the existing order should stay in place, or:
The Tribunal will usually tell you their decision at the end of the hearing.
Later, the Tribunal will write an order or determination and the reasons for
their decision. These will be sent to people who are parties to the hearing.
Not all people who attend the hearing are parties, so not everyone will be given
copies of the order or determination and reasons for decision.
The Guardianship Act defines the parties to a review of a financial management
application as:
If you are a party to the review hearing and you disagree with the decision made by the Guardianship Tribunal, you may be able to appeal to the Supreme Court or the Administrative Decisions Tribunal on a question of law. If you want to appeal the decision, you should seek independent legal advice. You must appeal within 28 days of receiving the order or determination and reasons for decision. The Supreme Court or the Administrative Decisions Tribunal may accept an appeal outside this time in some circumstances.
Address: 2a Rowntree Street, Balmain, NSW, 2041
Postal Address: Locked Mailbag 9, Balmain NSW 2041
Phone: (02) 9555 8500
Fax: (02) 9555 9049
Tollfree: 1800 463 928
Email: gt@gt.nsw.gov.au
Website: www.gt.nsw.gov.au