NZN [2014] NSWCATGD 19

NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: NZN [2014] NSWCATGD 19 Hearing dates: 25 March 2014 Decision date: 25 March 2014 Jurisdiction: Guardianship Division Before: Tearle B, Senior Member (Legal) Ovadia T, Senior Member (Professional) Newman J, General Member (Community) Decision: Financial management application dismissed; no jurisdiction. Catchwords: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT - application for financial management order - jurisdiction - relationship with Mental Health Act. Legislation Cited: Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW) Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW) NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009 (NSW) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mr NZN (subject person) Ms MAT (applicant) The NSW Trustee and Guardian File Number(s): 55164 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 dismissed the application for a financial management order for Mr NZN, because the Tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to make that order.

THE EVIDENCE AND THE TRIBUNAL'S REASONING

Reasons for this application 2Mr NZN, who is 50 years old, was, at the time of the hearing on 25 March 2014, detained as an involuntary patient under the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW) ('the Mental Health Act') in the Mental Health Unit of a regional public hospital. Before his admission to hospital, Mr NZN was recorded as having no fixed address. Mr NZN is reported to have a schizoaffective disorder. 3Ms MAT, a Social Worker in the Mental Health Unit of the hospital, applied to the former Guardianship Tribunal on 13 December 2013 for a financial management order for Mr NZN. 4On 12 December 2013, the Mental Health Review Tribunal had made an order under the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009 (NSW), committing the management of Mr NZN's financial affairs to the care of the NSW Trustee and Guardian. The order made by the Mental Health Review Tribunal applied to part only of Mr NZN's estate. Under the terms of that order, it applied to all of Mr NZN's real and other property, including moneys held in trust from Mr NZN's mother's estate, motor vehicles, and a block of land at Regional NSW. The order excluded Mr NZN's Disability Support Pension, and funds in his everyday bank account. 5The order made by the Mental Health Review Tribunal remains in force. The NSW Trustee and Guardian provided details of its administration of Mr NZN's estate in a report prepared on 19 March 2014. 6Ms MAT applied to the former Guardianship Tribunal on the day after the Mental Health Review Tribunal had made that financial management order for Mr NZN. Ms MAT indicated that members of Mr NZN's treating team at the hospital had taken the view, from the outset, that Mr NZN's brother, Mr HAS, should be appointed to manage his financial affairs. By lodging an application with the former Guardianship Tribunal, Ms MAT had hoped to replace the NSW Trustee and Guardian with Mr HAS. 7During the hearing on 25 March 2014, Ms MAT explained that a Legal Aid lawyer had suggested to her, following the hearing of the Mental Health Review Tribunal on 12 December 2013, that she could apply to the Guardianship Tribunal to replace the NSW Trustee and Guardian with Mr HAS.