Registered Supporter vs Power of Attorney in Aged Care Australia

When you start helping your parent navigate My Aged Care, you'll quickly encounter two distinct legal concepts: the Registered Supporter role and Enduring Power of Attorney. They both relate to helping with your parent's affairs, but they grant very different levels of authority, and confusing them can create serious problems down the track.

What Is a Registered Supporter?

The Registered Supporter role was introduced on 1 November 2025 under the new Aged Care Act 2024, replacing the previous My Aged Care representative and authorised representative roles.

A Registered Supporter can:

• Access your parent's My Aged Care account and records with their consent
• Receive communications and correspondence from My Aged Care
• Help with registration, assessment scheduling, and provider selection
• Attend appointments and assessments alongside your parent
• Communicate with service providers on your parent's behalf

A Registered Supporter cannot:

• Make legal decisions for your parent
• Sign service agreements without your parent's consent
• Consent to medical treatments or care plans
• Override your parent's stated wishes
• Access bank accounts or manage financial affairs

The key principle: the Registered Supporter role presumes that your parent retains decision-making capacity. You're there to support and assist, not to decide. Your parent remains the decision-maker.

Registration is straightforward — you can set it up during the initial My Aged Care phone call using Part C of the application form, or later through the My Aged Care online portal.

What Is Enduring Power of Attorney?

An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) is a legal document that may give you authority to make financial and/or personal decisions on your parent's behalf, including if they lose capacity. Unlike a Registered Supporter role, an EPOA is created under state and territory law, not under the Aged Care Act.

An EPOA may provide financial and/or personal authority, depending on the jurisdiction and instrument. Personal or medical decisions may instead involve a separate guardianship or advance-care instrument. Confirm the current instrument names and powers for your parent's state or territory before relying on an EPOA.

An EPOA must be signed while your parent still has decision-making capacity. When it operates and what it authorises depend on the jurisdiction and instrument, so confirm the scope before relying on it.

Why You Likely Need Both

The Registered Supporter role handles the day-to-day navigation of the aged care system while your parent is cognitively well. The EPOA provides a safety net for the future.

Consider this scenario: your parent develops dementia. Without applicable financial authority, you may not be able to access their bank accounts to pay the basic daily fee ($66.80/day for residential care) or negotiate a Refundable Accommodation Deposit. Personal or medical decisions may also require the authority provided by the relevant instrument for the jurisdiction.

If no applicable authority exists, you may need to apply for a guardianship or administration order through the relevant state or territory body.

When to Set Each Up

Registered Supporter: Set this up as soon as you contact My Aged Care. It requires only your parent's verbal or written consent and takes minutes. There's no cost.

EPOA: Set this up as early as possible — ideally before your parent enters the aged care system at all. An EPOA requires your parent to have decision-making capacity at the time of signing, and it should be prepared with a solicitor or through your state's public trustee office. Cost ranges from $330 to $550 for a standalone EPOA, or $800 to $2,000 as part of a broader estate planning package (wills, guardianship, advance care directive).

Every Australian state and territory has its own EPOA legislation and terminology. Confirm whether the instrument provides financial and/or personal authority, and whether a separate guardianship, administration, or advance-care instrument is needed, with an elder-law solicitor or public guardian before relying on it.

What If Your Parent Has Already Lost Capacity?

If your parent's cognitive decline means they can no longer give informed consent to create an EPOA, the Registered Supporter role alone won't cover the authority gaps. You may need to apply for a guardianship and/or administration order through the relevant state or territory body:

• NSW: NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT)
• Victoria: Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)
• Queensland: Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT)
• Other states: equivalent tribunals exist in each jurisdiction

This process involves filing an application, providing medical evidence of incapacity, and attending a hearing. It's slower, more expensive, and more intrusive than an EPOA — which is exactly why establishing the EPOA early matters.

Take Action Before It Becomes Urgent

The families who navigate aged care most smoothly are those who sort out legal authority well before a health crisis forces the issue. An EPOA prepared calmly at the kitchen table is infinitely easier than a guardianship application filed from a hospital corridor.

The My Aged Care and ACAT Assessment Guide includes a chapter on establishing legal authority for aged care, with a jurisdiction-neutral EPOA checklist and guidance on when and how to set up the Registered Supporter role alongside formal legal instruments.

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