Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is a legal document where you (the principal) appoint a trusted person/s (the attorney) control over your assets and allow them to make legally binding financial decisions on your behalf while you are alive.

There are two types of Power of Attorney, depending on whether you are appointing an attorney for a limited time while you can make decisions, or a more longstanding arrangement to plan for situations where you are unable to handle financial matters.

Your attorney must be someone you trust to act within your best interests as the wrong person may leave you vulnerable to financial abuse and scams.

General Power of Attorney allows the appointed attorney to make financial decisions on your behalf for a specific period of time. This may be useful if you are needing someone to manage your financial affairs while you are travelling overseas.

A General Power of Attorney is only valid while you are capable of making your own decisions.

An Enduring Power of Attorney is when your attorney is granted the power to make your financial decisions if you become incapable of doing so yourself. You can only appoint an Enduring Power of Attorney while you are capable of making decisions. Some arrangements may commence immediately while others may commence at the point the principal doesn’t have capacity.

In the Northern Territory, Enduring Powers of Attorney were replaced in 2014 by Advanced Personal Plans. The Advance Personal Plan has three parts:

1. Advance Care Statement – a statement in which you express your wishes on how you would like your attorneys, healthcare workers and other carers to proceed when making decisions for you. This is not a legally binding document, however your wishes must be respected by decision-makers and health professionals.
2. Advance Consent Decision – where you detail your decisions for future medical treatments, whether that be around the use of life support or organ transplantation. This is a legally binding document under NT law.
3. Appointment of Decision-makers – name one or more attorneys who you choose to make decisions on your behalf, including stipulating what they can make decisions on. You can include different attorneys for different decisions if preferred.

You do not have to complete all three parts of the document. You can choose to complete only one or two if you wish, as long as you provide your personal details and complete the signing and witness section.

An Enduring Power of Attorney (sometimes referred to as EPOA or EPA) should be used to put a formal agreement in place to plan for future incapability to make decisions due to illness or injury, or in anticipation of losing the ability to make financial decisions.

If you do not appoint an Enduring Power of Attorney and you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself, a Financial Management Order will be put in place. This leaves the decision in the hands of a Court or Tribunal.

A Financial Management Order is a legal document which appoints one or more people to be a Financial Manager to make decisions on someone’s behalf.

A Financial Management Order is put in place by a Court or Tribunal in the circumstance an individual doesn’t have an Enduring Power of Attorney and no longer has the capacity to appoint one.

The Court or Tribunal may appoint a family member or friend or a Financial Administrator/Manager to make decisions on your behalf. They can also appoint a public official from the State Trustee if applicable. A Financial Management Order can revoke an Enduring Power of Attorney arrangement in place.

When you have appointed a Power of Attorney, please visit your local Police Credit Union branch to inform us. We recommend the person you have elected as your Power of Attorney accompany you when you visit us, however, if this is not possible, we will contact you during the process.

What you’ll need to bring to branch:

• Proof of identity (e.g. drivers’ licence or passport)
• An Original or Certified Copy of your Power of Attorney document

If required, you may need to provide:

• A medical letter on a doctor’s letterhead, and a formal document with evidence of the account holder’s circumstances. This may be required if the Power of Attorney states “only in the event of my subsequent Legal Incapacity.”

If you would like more information, give our friendly team a call on 1300 131 844 or visit your local branch.

The process for setting up a Power of Attorney or Advance Care Plan differs in each state. We’ve included some useful resources for South Australia and Northern Territory below.

South Australia

Compass Enduring Power of Attorney Checklist
Compass is an Australian Government initiative. They have free website resources to help guide you through the process of setting up an Enduring Power of Attorney.

Free Legal Helpline
Legal Services Commission South Australia offers a free legal helpline for preliminary information, general advice and referrals. Call 1300 366 424 Monday to Friday 9am – 4:30pm.

Legal Services Commission of South Australia Enduring Power of Attorney Kit
Contains the instructions and relevant information you need to set up an Enduring Power of Attorney.

SA Public Trustee
The Public Trustee provides Will Making and Enduring Power of Attorney services to eligible customers.

Community Legal Centres SA
Provides legal advice, assistance and referral to community members who might not otherwise get the help they need. Call 1300 860 529.

SA.GOV.AU
The SA Government provide free information on their website about Power of Attorney, administration orders and advance care directives, with a link to purchase a Power of Attorney kit.

Office of the Public Advocate
The SA Public Advocate promotes the rights and interests of people who need assistance with decision making. The Public Advocate helps to carry out SA laws that relate to adults who are unable to make decisions for themselves. There is free information on the site about Enduring Powers of Attorney, advance care directives, guardianship and administration orders.

Northern Territory

Compass Advance personal plan checklist NT
Compass is an Australian Government initiative with free information about the process of making an Advance Personal Plan.

NT Office of the Public Guardian
The Public Guardian and Trustee provides free information and services to the NT community about guardianship, health care decision-making, financial management, advance personal plans, wills, estates and related matters.

Legal Aid NT
Free legal information over the phone on 1800 019 343 from Monday to Friday 8am – 4:30pm.

Darwin Community Legal Service
Free confidential service that supports members of the community to protect their legal rights.

NT.GOV.AU
The NT Government have free information on their website about Power of Attorneys and Advance Personal Plans.

Advance Care Planning Australia
An Australian Government initiative for all Australians with information about advance care planning.