Choosing your supporters

Supported decision-making toolkit

Your decisions, your care - know your rights and options

Everyone has the right to make decisions about their life, including the support and services they receive from aged care. Some older people may want and need support to make these decisions. Explore the topics below to start.

Home Supported Decision Toolkit Choosing your supporters

Choosing your supporters

You might want another person, or a range of other people, to support you to understand information, consider your options, and communicate your decisions. These people are called 'supporters'.

SUPPORTERS CANNOT MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU.

If you choose to have another person support you to make one decision, you do not have to have their support in making other decisions.

Under the new Aged Care Act, your aged care provider and anyone else in the aged care system asking you to make a decision should check in with you regularly about the supports you may need to make decisions. This means they should ask you if you want anyone to support you to make decisions, and who your preferred person is, before they involve them.

If you want to, you can register your supporters with My Aged Care. These are called ‘registered supporters’.

Or, you might feel like you are already supported enough by your support network of family, friends, carers, and other significant people in your life without needing to register them as supporters with My Aged Care.

Registered supporters

You should never be pressured or coerced into registering a supporter. No one can tell you that you need to have a registered support in order to access aged care services.

If you feel pressured to register a supporter:

Contact an independent aged care advocate by phoning the Aged Care Advocacy Line on 1800 700 600, for free, independent and confidential referrals to legal services.

There are three different types of registered supporters in My Aged Care, each with different levels of access to information or decision-making authority:

1. Supporter lite

• Can support you in making decisions.

• Can communicate your decisions, if you ask them to.

• Can only be registered as a supporter with your consent.

• Does not automatically get information about your aged care – you choose when information is shared

2. Supporter

• Can support you in making decisions.

• Can communicate your decisions, if you ask them to.

• Can only be registered as a supporter with your consent.

• Automatically gets the same information about your aged care that you get.

3. Supporter guardian

Is someone who is also an active substitute decision-maker under state or territory legislation.

• Can support you in making decisions.

• Can communicate your decisions, if you ask them to.

• Automatically gets the same information about your aged care that you get, plus any other information they can access under their state or territory appointment document.

• Can be registered as a supporter without your consent, but only while their substitute decision-making powers under state or territory legislation are active.

• Can only make decisions for you that are outlined in the state or territory appointment document.

• Can not make any other decisions for you.

YOU CAN REQUEST TO CANCEL YOUR SUPPORTER’S REGISTRATION AT ANY TIME BY CONTACTING MY AGED CARE.

Important links

Here are some video resources from the Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing on decision-making and registered supporters in the new Aged Care Act:

I am the centre of my aged care - My choice and decisions Watch Video

Let's yarn about changes to aged care – Supporting your rights and decisions Watch Video

Under the new Aged Care Act, all three of these types of supporters must:

• act in a way that promotes your decisions in line with your will, preferences, and personal, cultural, and social wellbeing,

• act honestly, diligently and in good faith,

• support you only to the extent necessary for you to do the thing yourself, and

• apply their best endeavours to maintain your ability to make their own decisions.

All three of these types of supporters must never use their role as registered supporter to:

• act in a way that does not align with your will and preferences,

• make decisions for you,

• attempt to influence you,

• dishonestly use their role to gain benefit to themselves or others, or to harm you.

You can apply the CAR test and see if you feel like your supporters are upholding your decision-making rights.

Substitute decision-makers

You are presumed to have the ability to make decisions under the new Aged Care Act. This means that everyone in the aged care system (which includes aged care providers, aged care needs assessors, and My Aged Care) must begin from the starting point that you are able to make decisions. Your right to make decisions has to be respected even if you have a diagnosis such as dementia or feel like it is harder to make decisions than it used to be.

You should never be pressured or coerced into 'activating' or appointing a substitute decision-maker before a legal process has determined you need one. No one can tell you that you need to have a substitute decision-maker, or plans for one in the future, in order to access aged care services.

If you feel pressured to activate or plan for a substitute decision-maker before a legal process determines you need one, contact an OPAN independent aged care advocate immediately.

In some cases, a legal process may determine that you are unable make certain types of decisions for a period of time. This is often called to as no longer having ‘decision-making capacity’. In these cases, a substitute decision-maker maker may be ‘activated’ according to your state or territory legislation (often known as enduring guardians or attorneys).

SUBSTITUTE DECISION-MAKERS CAN ONLY MAKE THE TYPES OF DECISION FOR YOU THAT ARE OUTLINED IN, AND FOR THE PERIOD SPECIFIED IN, THE STATE OR TERRITORY APPOINTMENT DOCUMENT.

However, even if you have a substitute decision-maker appointed for some types of decisions, you still retain your aged care rights to:

• Be involved in decisions that the substitute decision-maker is appointed to make

• Make all other decisions on your own, or with support if you want it

• Access information in a way you can understand

• Be provided with accessible services

Important links

You can read more about substitute decision-maker requirements in your state or territory on the:

'Guardians and other substitute decision makers' section of OPAN's Self-advocacy toolkit Download now

COMPASS guide on Enduring Powers of Attorney Download now

What changed with supporter roles in the new Aged Care Act?

The registered supporter types are something new that started with the Aged Care Act on 1 November 2025. The regular representative, authorised representative, and nominee roles in aged care ceased to exist on 1 November 2025. The regular and authorised representatives were able to transition to registered supporter roles.

Important links

Here are some links to resources on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's website that describe the introduction of the registered supporter role and changes to regular representative, authorised representative, and nominee roles on 1 November 2025.

A new registered supporter role for aged care Read Fact Sheet

Regular representative opting out of transitioning to a registered supporter Read Case study

Regular representative transitioning to a registered supporter Read Case study

Authorised representative transitioning to a registered supporter Read Case study

Authorised representative opting out of transitioning to a registered supporter Read Case study

Supporters listed with other government agencies

You might also have supporters listed with other government agencies, for examples Centrelink, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Medicare. These roles did not change with the new Aged Care Act on 1 November 2025.

The ‘My Supporter List’ button in this Toolkit prompts you about different types of supporters that you can list with different government agencies, with link for more information on how to action them. It also provides space for you to list who your different supporters with different government agencies are.

Supported decision-making toolkit

Your decisions, your care - know your rights and options

Choosing your supporters

Registered supporters

1. Supporter lite

2. Supporter

3. Supporter guardian

Important links

Substitute decision-makers

Important links

What changed with supporter roles in the new Aged Care Act?

Important links

Supporters listed with other government agencies

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