The Newman Queensland Government announced on 23 April 2012 that it had commenced drafting amendments to the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 (Qld) to increase the powers of the Public Advocate.
The Queensland Law Reform Commission’s (QLRC) 2009 A Review of Queensland’s Guardianship Laws Discussion Paper (Discussion Paper) noted (Volume 2, p 194):
Although the guardianship legislation in all other Australian jurisdictions establishes a body with similar functions and powers to the Queensland Adult Guardian, … no other Australian jurisdiction includes, as part of its guardianship system, a body [like the Queensland Office of Public Advocate] with the sole function of systemic advocacy ...
The Office of the Public Advocate was established in Queensland Queensland was the only state or territory in Australia
During 2008-2009, an independent review, known as the Webbe-Weller Review (Part A Report and Part B Report) investigated 459 Queensland Government bodies to, amongst other things, identify which ones were working efficiently and which should be abolished. The Review considered a number of submissions, including a submission from the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. In the submission, the Department argued against the retention of the Office of the Public Advocate on the ground that the Public Advocate had insufficient access to the information necessary to meet the Office’s objectives (Part B Report, p 142). The Review concluded (p 143) that “the Public Advocate should be abolished and its functions transferred to the Adult Guardian” unless the QLRC determined otherwise in its then pending review of Queensland
In April 2009, the Bligh Government responded to the Webbe-Weller Review, accepting the recommendation relating to the Public Advocate and noting that the recommendation was consistent with the position in some other Australian jurisdictions (p 31 of 49). The changes necessary to implement this decision were not, however, made to the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 (Qld).
In October 2009, the QLRC published its Discussion Paper which, amongst other things, considered the issue of the separation of the roles of the Public Advocate and the Adult Guardian (Volume 2, pp 194-199). The QLRC’s preliminary view (pp 205-206) was that the position of the Public Advocate should not be abolished and its systemic advocacy function should not be transferred to the Adult Guardian. The QLRC warned of a possible downgrading of the function of systemic advocacy if it were so transferred. The QLRC was also concerned that a conflict of interest may potentially occur if systemic issues arose relating to the services provided by the Adult Guardian because it would be the Adult Guardian who would be responsible for advocating for the improvement of such services.
On 16 November 2009, the Bligh Government changed the QLRC’s terms of reference. It limited the QLRC to advising on how to maintain an independent systemic advocacy role upon the transfer of the Public Advocate’s powers to the Adult Guardian rather than reporting on the adequacy of the Public Advocate’s role and functions.
The QLRC issued its four volume report titled A Review of Queensland’s Guardianship Laws in September 2010, making various recommendations in Chapter 24 relating to the amended terms of reference. In its October 2011 response, the Bligh Government confirmed (pp 51-52) that the function of systems advocacy would be transferred from the Office of the Public Advocate to the Office of the Adult Guardian.
However, in February 2012, the then Attorney-General, the Hon Paul Lucas MP announced that the Bligh Government had decided to retain the Office of the Public Advocate as a “separate, independent entity” and co-locate it with other similar agencies to reduce costs. The decision was made after the former Attorney-General met with stakeholders in December 2011, and it followed a number of articles in the Courier Mail (e.g. ‘Public advocate remains undefended’); an e-petition titled “Save our Advocate – restore the Office of the Public Advocate” sponsored by the Independent member, Mr Peter Wellington MP; and a “Save our Advocate” twitter campaign.
Based on the new LNP Government’s 23 April 2012 media release, it is understood that the LNP Government proposes to:
· provide the Public Advocate with the ability to provide a report at any time to the Attorney-General on a systemic issue, with the report to be tabled in Parliament;
· grant the Public Advocate authority to access certain information or documents relating to systems advocacy; and
· provide a penalty for non-compliance if a person or agency does not comply with an information request made by the Public Advocate.
Key Documents
Hon Jarrod Bleijie MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, ‘Public Advocate to have greater power and independence’, Ministerial Media Statement, 23 April 2012
Queensland Labor, ‘Independent role of the Office of the Public Advocate to continue’, Media Release, 27 February 2012
· A Review of Queensland’s Guardianship Laws Discussion Paper, 2009 (especially Volume 2, Chapter 20)
· Assisted and Substituted Decisions: Decision-making by and for people with a decision-making disability, Report No 49, 1996 (especially Volume 1, Chapter 12)
Government Response to QLRC Report No 67:
· Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General, ‘Queensland Government initial response to the Queensland Law Reform Commission’s Report: A Review of Queensland's Guardianship Laws’, 2011
Webbe-Weller Review and Government Response
· Webbe, S and Weller, P, Brokering Balance: A Public Interest Map for Queensland Government Bodies (Part B Report), 2009
Selected newspaper articles
· ‘Lucas a star for saving watchdog’, Courier Mail, 29 February 2012
· ‘Watchdog reprieve welcomed’, Courier Mail, 28 February 2012
· ‘Advocate escapes the axe’, Courier Mail, 27 February 2012
· ‘Public advocate remains undefended’, Courier Mail, 7 December 2011
· ‘Plea to save Public Advocate’ (Letter to the Editor) (K Wade), Courier Mail, 2 October 2011
Kelli Longworth
General Distribution Research Team, Research and Information Service
