If a person is unable to make certain decisions on their own without someone’s support, they can choose someone they know and trust to be their decision-making assistant.
As a decision-making assistant you have the legal authority to help the person by gathering relevant information and explaining it to them. You must help the person to understand and weigh up their options. You can also support the person to let other people know about the decision that has been made.
As a decision-making assistant, you do not make a decision with or on behalf of the person. Your role is to support the person to make decisions for themselves.
If a person wants you to be their decision-making assistant, they will be able to make a decision-making assistance agreement. The agreement is made in writing and lists the decisions you can help with. You can only help with decisions that are included in the agreement.
Who can be a decision-making assistant?
You can become a decision-making assistant if you are an adult (18 years and over). You must be known and trusted by the person appointing you.
Some people cannot be a decision-making assistant. You are not allowed to be a decision-making assistant if you:
- have been convicted of an offence against the person appointing you or their child
- are financially insolvent (unless the agreement is only about personal welfare decisions)
- are the owner or a registered provider of a designated care or mental health facility where the person lives (unless you are a relative of the person)
- have previously been a decision-making assistant for the person but were removed from that role
- have been convicted of an offence relating to making a false statement in or about application to make a decision support arrangement
- have been convicted of an offence of forcing or pressuring a person to make a decision support arrangement
- have been convicted of an offence of ill-treating or wilfully neglecting a relevant person
What’s involved in being a decision-making assistant?
As a decision-making assistant your role is to help a person with the decisions included in their decision-making assistance agreement. This means you can access relevant information and records for the person. This might involve contacting a bank, utility, or healthcare provider. You may also be required to attend meetings or appointments with the person.
You help them to understand and weigh up their options. You also support them to let other people know about the decision that has been made.
There is a Code of Practice for the guidance of decision-making assistants.
Monitoring and supervision
Decision-making assistants will not be required to send reports to us.
However, we can send someone to talk to you, or the person who has appointed you, and ask that person to provide us with a report. For example, we may send a general visitor or special visitor to talk to you if we have received a complaint, or want to make sure the agreement is working the way that it should.
How do you become a decision-making assistant?
If a person wants you to be their decision-making assistant, they will make a decision-making assistance agreement with you.
The agreement must be made in writing and include details of the decisions you will help with. It must be signed by you, the person appointing you, and two witnesses. It must include a statement by you to confirm you understand and will perform your role.
How to find out if someone is a decision-making assistant?
When we are sent a decision-making assistance agreement, we will review it and provide the person and their decision-making assistant with a certified copy of the agreement. This confirms that the decision-making assistant has the legal authority to help with certain decisions.
The certified copy can be requested by anyone who may have dealings with the decision-making assistant.
Making a complaint about a decision-making assistant
Any person can make a complaint to us about a decision-making assistant. Complaints must be made in writing and must be for one of the following reasons:
- the decision-making assistant is helping with decisions that are not included in the agreement
- the decision-making assistant is trying to make decisions on behalf of the person
- the decision-making assistant is unable to perform their functions and responsibilities
- the decision-making assistant used fraud, coercion or undue pressure to get the person to make the agreement
Find out more about making a complaint about a decision-making assistant, here.