NZO [2014] NSWCATGD 9

NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: NZO [2014] NSWCATGD 9 Hearing dates: 23 January 2014 Decision date: 20 March 2014 Jurisdiction: Guardianship Division Before: Schyvens M, Deputy President Oxenham M, Senior Member (Professional) Epstein-Frisch B, General Member (Community) Decision: Limited guardianship order for a period of 12 months; Public Guardian appointed with accommodation, services and advocacy functions. Catchwords: GUARDIANSHIP - National Disability Insurance Scheme - need for an order - need for independent advocacy. Legislation Cited: Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW) Cases Cited: KCG [2014] NSWCATGD 7 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Miss NZO Ms LYE (Applicant) The Public Guardian File Number(s): 44967 Publication restriction: Decisions of the Guardianship Division of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal have been anonymised to remove any information that may identify any person involved in the Tribunal's proceedings (s 65, Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW))

REASONS FOR DECISION

What the Tribunal decided 1The Tribunal appointed the Public Guardian as Miss NZO's guardian for a period of 12 months to make decisions about her accommodation, about what services which she should receive and to advocate generally for her as set out in the Tribunal's order.

Background 2Miss NZO is a 68 year-old woman who lives in a privately rented house in Regional NSW with three other residents. Miss NZO receives daily "drop-in support" provided by an In-Home Support Service which is a division of the Ageing, Disability & Home Care (ADHC) Accommodation Service. 3Ms LYE lodged an application for a guardianship order for Miss NZO on 21 October 2013. Ms LYE is a Team Leader at Accommodation Support Services at ADHC in regional NSW. Ms LYE states in her application that Miss NZO has an intellectual disability and that she requires the appointment of a guardian to make substitute decisions for her in certain areas of her life, primarily due to the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme ("NDIS").