1852. Hon Alison Xamon to the Leader of the House representing the Attorney General; Minister for Commerce:
I refer to recommendation 25 in the Government Response to I never thought it would happen to me: when trust is broken, Final report of the Select Committee into Elder Abuse, and I ask:
(a) has a preferred option been identified for harmonising enduring power of attorneys;
(b) if no to (a) what stage is the process of identifying options up to;
(c) what is Western Australia’s involvement in this process; and
(d) when is it expected that the national register will be in place?
Hon Sue Ellery replied:
(a) No.
(b) The Australian Guardianship and Administrators Council (AGAC) has finalised an options paper which was submitted to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department in late December 2018. The paper identifies three options for possible harmonisation of laws and policies. The options paper is being considered by a Council of Attorneys General (CAG) Enduring Power of Attorney Working Group.
(c) Western Australia has two representatives on the CAG Enduring Power of Attorney Working Group and two representatives on the overarching CAG Implementation Executive Group.
(d) Not known. The Australian Government has made $2 million available to support on-going discussions on law reform and development of a proof-of-concept for a national online register of financial Enduring Powers of Attorney.