Questions or concerns?

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 Questions or concerns?

Questions or concerns?

You should contact an advocate immediately on 1800 700 600 if your situation is causing you significant distress. If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

If you’ve applied the CAR test, and something does not seem quite right, or feels very wrong, then it is definitely time to seek help and advice.

You can contact an independent aged care advocate by phoning the Aged Care Advocacy Line on 1800 700 600, for free, independent and confidential support. Talking to an advocate can help you:

• talk through and understand they core of your concerns,
• find out what your options are for next steps in addressing those concerns, and
• get support in taking those next steps, if you choose to.

In the following sections we outline some of your options you can take with or without the support of an independent aged care advocate if you have concerns your decision-making rights aren’t being upheld.

Questions, concerns and complaints about aged care services

Do you have questions about what decision-making supports you are able to request?

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.

You may have concerns that your aged care service is not:

Implementing services and administrative processes that work for you. For example, having online only information and documentation available.
Communicating directly with you because it’s ‘easier’ to deal with someone else.
Providing you with information in your preferred way, for example in your first language, verbally, on paper, or in pictures.
Allowing you to communicate your decision in your preferred way, for example through non-verbal communication like gestures, on paper, verbally, or in your preferred language.
Giving you sufficient time to make a decision or letting you make the decision at another time.
Letting you make the decision in a different place where you feel safer and more supported.
Allowing you to access support from a communication professional, like a hearing practitioner or speech pathologist, so you can communicate clearly.
Allowing you to receive support from another person to make the decision.

Remember, aged care services include:

Aged care providers (including CHSP, Support at Home, residential care providers, and flexible care providers)
Aged care needs assessors (who work at Single Assessments Services)
My Aged Care staff
Care finders
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner
The Complaints Commissioner
Independent aged care advocates working for the OPAN network
Elder Care Support Program workers
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFAC) staff
Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Services staff

You can learn more about how to raise concerns and make a complaint about your aged care provider here in OPAN’s Self Advocacy Toolkit – Raising concerns and making an effective complaint.

Do you feel unsure about being able to self-advocate and would like support to understand your options and raise your concerns about your aged care services?

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.

Questions, concerns and complaints about registered supporters

Are you are unsure about if you should, or how you can, register your supporters?

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.

You may have concerns that your registered supporter is:

Not treating you with respect.
Acting in a way that does not align with your will and preferences.
Making decisions for you, something they are not allowed to do.
Attempting to influence you.
Misusing or not respecting the privacy of information about you they receive.
Using their role as a supporter to gain benefit to themselves or others, or to harm you.
Making you feel anything else that does not align with the CAR test above.

Remember, you can request to cancel your supporter’s registration at any time.

If you are concerned about the conduct of your registered supporter, for example they are trying to pressure you into making certain decisions or they are trying to make decisions for you, you can 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.

You can also raise a complaint or a concern about registered supporter’s conduct with the System Governor by calling My Aged Care.

Questions, concerns and complaints about substitute decision-makers

Do you have questions about who your substitute decision-makers are, why they are now involved in making decisions for you, or what they can do and when?

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.

It is a good idea to get legal advice if you have concerns about a substitute-decision maker’s conduct. There are different ways these legal appointments can be changed, depending on how they were made. But it is a complex area of law.

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.

You may also want to directly contact the lawyer who helped you draft any documents about substitute decision-makers (if you have one), a seniors legal service, or your state or territory law society and ask for a lawyer specialising in elder law.

For example, you may have concerns that:

Your substitute decision-maker pressured you to ‘activate’ their appointment even though you are still able to make decisions and no one else has questioned your legal capacity to make decisions.
You feel that a process or system has resulted in a substitute decision-maker being appointed and activated and you think it was unnecessary and/or too soon.
Your substitute decision-maker is excluding you from decisions they are making about you.
Your substitute decision-maker is withholding information from you.
Your substitute decision-maker is talking to your aged care provider or other aged care services ‘behind your back’.
Your substitute decision-maker is making decisions for you that do not fall within the state or territory appointment document.

Questions or concerns?

Supported decision-making toolkit

Your decisions, your care - know your rights and options

Questions or concerns?

Questions, concerns and complaints about aged care services

Questions, concerns and complaints about registered supporters

Questions, concerns and complaints about substitute decision-makers

Need more support?
Call 1800 700 600

Support

Education

Information

About us

Questions or concerns?

Supported decision-making toolkit

Your decisions, your care - know your rights and options

Questions or concerns?

Questions, concerns and complaints about aged care services

Questions, concerns and complaints about registered supporters

Questions, concerns and complaints about substitute decision-makers

Need more support? Call 1800 700 600

Support

Education

Information

About us

Need more support?
Call 1800 700 600