Aged and disability care law in Western Australia 

This article is a wayfinding guide. It states the law of Western Australia, and identifies where Commonwealth law governs instead. It adds no authority of its own: every proposition here is drawn from the linked articles on each Western Australian statute, and the pinpoints in this article's citations are the ones verified there.

Western Australia's structure is the most consolidated in the country. Where South Australia uses three separate Acts for guardianship, advance directives and powers of attorney, Western Australia does all three in one: the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA).¹ Knowing that saves the most common Western Australian mistake, which is looking for an Act that does not exist.

Commonwealth or State?

The Commonwealth funds and regulates the service under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth): registration, standards, reportable incidents and income support.⁶⁵

Western Australia governs capacity, enduring instruments, advance health directives, service principles and complaints.

The four statutes, and what each answers

| The question | The Act | The decision-maker | |---|---|---| | Can this adult decide? Who decides? Who holds the power of attorney? What did they direct in advance? | Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) | SAT; the guardian, administrator or donee | | What principles govern services to people with disability? | Disability Services Act 1993 (WA) | Service providers | | Who hears a complaint about a health or disability service?⁴ | Health and Disability Services (Complaints) Act 1995 (WA) | The Director | | Does this unpaid carer have recognised standing?³ | Carers Recognition Act 2004 (WA) | Applicable organisations |

One Act, three functions

The Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) carries guardianship and administration, enduring powers of attorney, and advance health directives.²

Capacity and orders. Section 4 sets the principles that govern the exercise of every function under the Act, in subsections (2) to (7). Section 43 provides for guardianship orders.

Enduring powers of attorney. Sections 104 to 107 set the formalities and the donee's obligations, and Western Australia is strict about both. A valid enduring power requires two attesting witnesses and an endorsed statement of acceptance by the donee. The power may be drafted to operate immediately, or only on a declaration by SAT that the donor has lost capacity — so the first question about a Western Australian enduring power is always which of the two it is. Section 107 imposes obligations of diligence and record-keeping, and requires the donee not to renounce without leave and to report bankruptcy.

Advance health directives. Sections 110F to 110U provide for them. Section 110S is the operative group on when a directive applies and how it is to be given effect, and s 110U deals with its relationship to other authority.

Because all three sit in one Act, a Western Australian answer should say which Part it is in, not merely which Act.

Service principles

The Disability Services Act 1993 (WA) states ten principles in Schedule 1 — cite them as sch 1 principle 5, not as a section. They include participation in and direction of decisions (principles 1 and 5), least restrictive service delivery (principle 6), a right to pursue grievances (principle 7), geographic equity (principle 9), and freedom from neglect, abuse, violence, intimidation and exploitation (principle 10).

Geographic equity is a Western Australian preoccupation for obvious reasons, and it has no counterpart in the eastern States' principle sets. It is the principle to reach for where the issue is service availability outside the metropolitan area.

This guide does not deal with the authorisation of restrictive practices in Western Australia. No Western Australian authorisation instrument was established in the linked overlay articles, and nothing is asserted here about whether one exists — check the position directly before advising.

Complaints: standing tied to the ground

The Health and Disability Services (Complaints) Act 1995 (WA) has the most technical standing rule in this series, and it is easy to get wrong.

Section 19 ties standing to the ground complained of — who may complain depends on what is being complained about. Section 20(2) allows recognition of a representative where the user has died or cannot complain. Section 22 imposes a 24-month time limit, subject to good reason under s 24.

So a Western Australian complaint has three gates: the right ground, the right complainant for that ground, and time. Compare Queensland, where s 31 of the Health Ombudsman Act 2013 lets any person complain orally, and the contrast is stark.

Carers: the strongest Charter obligation

The Carers Recognition Act 2004 (WA) defines a carer in s 5(1) by reference to ongoing care for grounds drawn from other statutes — so the disability and mental illness definitions must be taken from the Acts cross-referred to, not from this one. Section 5(2)(a) and (3) exclude contracted and community work care.

Section 6 carries the strongest Charter obligation in the country. Section 6(1) requires applicable organisations to comply with the Carers Charter — not merely to be aware of it, as in New South Wales and the Northern Territory, and not merely to take reasonable steps to implement it, as in Tasmania. Section 6(2) requires public sector bodies to involve carers in policy and planning, which is a stronger verb than the Northern Territory's consult.

That said, the general rule of this legislative family still applies: the obligations run to organisations. Do not advise a carer that the Charter gives them something to enforce.

A working order for a Western Australian problem

1. Split the jurisdiction. Funding, registration and reportable incidents are Commonwealth.
2. Go to the 1990 Act first for anything about capacity, authority or advance directions, and identify the Part.
3. For an enduring power, check two witnesses, the endorsed acceptance, and whether it operates immediately or on a SAT declaration.
4. Apply the s 4 principles to the exercise of any function under the Act.
5. Cite Schedule 1 principles by number for service questions, and use principle 9 where regional access is the issue.
6. For a complaint, work the three gates in order: ground, standing for that ground, and the 24-month limit.
7. For carers, apply the compliance standard in s 6(1) and take the definitions from the cross-referred Acts.

Self-check

• Have I looked in the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 before searching for a separate powers of attorney or advance directives Act?
• Have I identified whether the enduring power operates immediately or on declaration?
• Have I cited Schedule 1 principles as principles, not sections?
• Have I checked the ground before the complainant, and then the time limit?
• Have I used the cross-referred definitions for the carer grounds?