Glossary

A

ACAT assessment

A check done by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) that assesses the needs of people looking for aged care support. This assessment helps identify the type of care and support needed, such as home care, respite care, or residential aged care.

Administrator

A person appointed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to make financial decisions for a person (during their lifetime) who doesn’t have the capacity to make those decisions on their own.

Advance health directive

A legal document that lets you outline your healthcare wishes if you can’t make or communicate decisions in the future.

Attorney

A person or organisation appointed under an Enduring Power of Attorney to make decisions about:

• personal matters (e.g., living arrangements, healthcare, support services, legal matters unrelated to finances or property), and/or
• financial matters (e.g., paying bills, managing property and handling investments, such as carrying on a business).

B

No terms starting with this letter.

C

Capacity

A legal term that refers to a person’s ability to make decisions. To have capacity a person must be able to:

• understand what the decision is about, their options and what could happen with each choice
• make decisions freely without pressure from others
• communicate the decision – by speaking, writing, using sign language, or an interpreter.

Child advocate

Lawyers who protect the rights of children and young people in the child protection system. Their role is to:

• help children and young people to understand legal proceedings
• support children and young people to have a say in legal decisions about their care.

Community visitor

An independent officer employed by Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to visit:

• children and young people staying in out-of-home care, youth detention, residential care, and other settings
• adults with impaired decision-making ability who live or receive services at a visitable site.

During visits, they ensure the child or adult is safe and receiving adequate care, and that their views, wishes, and concerns are listened to and considered. They also address or raise concerns and issues on behalf of the child or adult.

D

Dignity of risk

An adult’s right to live the life they choose and to make their own choices, even if those choices involve some risk. Others who make decisions for adults must ensure they find the right balance between the adult’s safety and their right to make decisions.

E

Enduring power of attorney

A legal document that allows someone to appoint a person, multiple people, or an organisation to make personal or financial decisions on their behalf if they lose the ability to make decisions on their own.

F

Functional behaviour assessment

An assessment to understand why someone behaves in a harmful way and to develop strategies to manage the behaviour and reduce the risk of harm.

G

Guardian

A person appointed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to make personal and health decisions for an adult who does not have the capacity to make those decisions on their own.

H

No terms starting with this letter.

I

Independent disability advocate

A person or organisation that helps people with disability to make their own decisions, have control over their life and ensure their voice heard in matters that affect them.

Informal decision-maker

A trusted person who steps in to make decisions for someone with impaired decision-making ability. This is an informal arrangement because they have not been appointed as a guardian or attorney.

J

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K

No terms starting with this letter.

L

Life-sustaining treatment

Medical treatments that keep someone alive when their body cannot function on its own. These treatments are intended to support life until the person’s body can recover, if possible.

M

No terms starting with this letter.

N

NDIS plan

A document that outlines a participant’s goals and the supports they will receive through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to help achieve those goals.

O

Order

A formal decision made by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) that legally appoints a guardian or administrator to make specific decisions on behalf of a person with impaired decision-making capacity.

P

Plan of management

A document created by a respondent (e.g., an attorney or administrator) that outlines the steps they will take to address and correct their mismanagement of an adult's finances.

Positive behaviour support plan

A document developed in consultation with a person with disability and the people involved in their life that outlines strategies to manage harmful behaviours.

Q

No terms starting with this letter.

R

Restrictive practice

Any intervention that limits a person’s rights or freedom of movement. It is used to prevent the person from harming themselves or others.

S

Statutory health attorney

A person (often a family member or friend) who has automatic authority to make decisions about medical treatment if an adult is too sick or incapacitated to provide consent, and they don’t have:

• an advance health directive
• an attorney (under an enduring power of attorney or advance health directive), or
• a guardian.

Substitute decision-maker

A formally appointed person who makes decisions for an adult when they are unable to make a decision on their own.

Support coordinator

A person that helps NDIS participants organise their supports and services. They assist participants:

• in making the best use of their NDIS plan supports, and
• arranging supports and services in line with their wishes and plan budget.

T

Treatment authority

Allows a doctor to provide mental health treatment to someone who cannot consent, as long as it is the least restrictive option.

U

No terms starting with this letter.

V

Visitable sites

Locations that OPG’s community visitors attend to speak with children and young people, or adults, who live or spend significant time there. These sites include (but are not limited to):

• children and young people: foster and kinship care homes, residential care services, youth detention centres, or other places where children and young people in the child protection or youth justice systems are accommodated.
• adults: places where a person receives certain NDIS-funded support services, supported accommodation with level 3 accreditation, mental health services, or other places (other than private homes) where adults with impaired decision-making ability live or receive care.

W

No terms starting with this letter.

X

No terms starting with this letter.

Y

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Z

No terms starting with this letter.