Enduring Power of Attorney in Australia: What It Is and How to Make One in Your State

General information, not legal advice. This guide is our best interpretation of Australian law as at October 2026. WillBuddy is not a law firm, and it never replaces advice from a lawyer or solicitor. If your situation is complex, or you are unsure about anything here, please get legal advice.

This guide explains what an enduring power of attorney is, how it differs from a will, and the basic rules in each state and territory.

Quick Answer

An enduring power of attorney lets you appoint someone you trust to make financial decisions for you, and it keeps working if you lose capacity. It works only during your life; your will takes over after death. Every state and territory has its own Act, form and witnessing rules, and your attorney generally must sign an acceptance. In Tasmania it must be registered before your attorney can act under it, and in several places registration is needed for land dealings. The Northern Territory uses an advance personal plan instead.

What an enduring power of attorney does

In an enduring power of attorney you (the principal) appoint one or more attorneys to act for you, usually on money and property, such as paying bills or selling property. An ordinary power of attorney generally stops working if you lose capacity; an enduring one is designed to continue. Victoria's Act, for example, says it is not revoked by the principal later losing decision-making capacity (Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) s22(3)).

You make it while you have capacity, and you can usually choose when it starts, limit what your attorney can do, and revoke it while you still have capacity.

How it differs from a will

• An enduring power of attorney works only while you are alive. It generally ends when you die (for example Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) s51; Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld) s51; Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas) s32AE(2); Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (ACT) s60; Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (NT) s11).
• A will works only after you die. Your executor, not your attorney, deals with your estate.
• An attorney generally cannot make or change your will for you (for example Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) s26).

The two documents do different jobs.

Health and lifestyle decisions

Personal, lifestyle and medical decisions are handled differently in each place. For example:

• In New South Wales, the official form says an attorney cannot make decisions about your lifestyle or health; those can be made by an enduring guardian (Powers of Attorney Regulation 2024 (NSW) Sch 2, Form 2).
• In Queensland, an enduring power of attorney can cover personal and health matters, and an advance health directive is a separate document (Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld) ss32, 35).
• In Western Australia, the same Act also provides for an enduring power of guardianship and an advance health directive (Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) Parts 9A and 9B).
• In Victoria, an enduring power of attorney can cover personal (lifestyle) matters as well as financial ones, but not medical treatment decisions, which are dealt with under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic) (Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) ss3(1), 22(2)).
• In the ACT, an enduring power of attorney can cover property, personal care and health care matters (Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (ACT) s13(2)).
• In the Northern Territory, one advance personal plan can cover both (Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (NT) s8(2)).

For South Australia and Tasmania, check the official sources for how health and lifestyle decisions are made.

Victoria

• Law: Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic).
• Form: must be in the prescribed form (s32), which is Form 1 in Schedule 1 of the Powers of Attorney Regulations 2025 (Vic). The Department of Justice and Community Safety publishes the official forms, and the Office of the Public Advocate explains how to make one.
• Who can make one: you must be 18 or over and have decision-making capacity to make it (s23).
• Who can be an attorney: an individual who is 18 or over, is not an insolvent under administration and is not your care worker, health provider or accommodation provider. A financial attorney with a conviction or finding of guilt for an offence involving dishonesty must have disclosed it to you, and it must be recorded in the document. A trustee company can be appointed for financial matters (s28).
• Witnesses: two adult witnesses, present together, who sign in front of you and each other (s33). One must be authorised to witness affidavits or be a medical practitioner. Neither can be an attorney, a relative of yours or of an attorney, or your care worker or accommodation provider (s35). Each witness signs a certificate (s36). A remote witnessing procedure by audio visual link is also allowed, but only under strict conditions: for example, every step must happen on the same day and within Victoria, and one witness must be a special witness such as an Australian legal practitioner or a justice of the peace (ss3(1), 5A, 33).
• Acceptance: each attorney signs a statement of acceptance in the prescribed form, witnessed by an adult (a trustee company attorney's acceptance does not need a witness) (s37).

New South Wales

• Law: Powers of Attorney Act 2003 (NSW) and Powers of Attorney Regulation 2024 (NSW).
• Form: the Regulation sets out an enduring power of attorney form (Sch 2, Form 2). The NSW Government publishes information and the form.
• Witness: your signature must be witnessed by a prescribed witness who is not an attorney, such as an Australian legal practitioner, a registrar of the Local Court, or a licensed conveyancer or NSW Trustee and Guardian or trustee company employee who has completed a course approved by the Minister (s19). The witness must explain the document to you and certify that you appeared to understand it.
• Acceptance: an attorney has no authority until they accept by signing (s20).
• Land: a deed affecting land signed under a power of attorney generally has no effect unless the power is registered (s52; leases of 3 years or less are excluded). Registration is with the Registrar-General (s51).

Queensland

• Law: Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld).
• Form: must be in an approved form (s44(1)). The Queensland Government publishes information and the approved forms.
• Who can make one: an adult (s32) who can make it freely and voluntarily and understands its nature and effect (s41).
• Who can be an attorney: an adult with capacity for the matter who is not (and has not been in the last 3 years) your paid carer, is not your health provider, is not a service provider for a residential service where you live, and, for financial matters, is not bankrupt. The public trustee or a trustee company can be appointed for financial matters, and the public guardian for personal matters (s29).
• Witness: one eligible witness, who must be a justice of the peace, commissioner for declarations, notary public or lawyer, and not an attorney or a relation of yours or an attorney. If the document covers personal matters, the witness also cannot be your paid carer or health provider (ss31, 44(3)). The witness signs a certificate (s44(4)).
• Acceptance: the attorney must accept by signing (s44(8)).
• Land: an instrument signed under a power of attorney can be registered only if the power of attorney is registered (Land Title Act 1994 (Qld) s132).

Western Australia

• Law: Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA), Part 9.
• Form: Form 1 in Schedule 3, or substantially in that form (s104(1)). The WA Government publishes an Enduring Power of Attorney Information Kit.
• Who can make one: a person 18 or over with full legal capacity (s104(1a)). You choose whether it works straight away or only after the State Administrative Tribunal declares you lack capacity (s104(1)(b)).
• Who can be an attorney: a person who is 18 or over with full legal capacity (s104C).
• Witnesses: two witnesses. Either both are authorised by law to take declarations, or one is and the other is 18 or over and is not being appointed as an attorney or substitute (s104(2)-(3)). The people who can witness statutory declarations, such as a justice of the peace or a lawyer, are listed in Schedule 2 of the Oaths, Affidavits and Statutory Declarations Act 2005 (WA).
• Acceptance: each attorney and any substitute signs a statement of acceptance (Form 2) (s104(2)(b)).

South Australia

• Law: Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984 (SA).
• Form: made by deed (s6(1)). The Act sets out the attorney's acceptance form (Sch 2) but not a full enduring power form. The Legal Services Commission of SA publishes an Enduring Power of Attorney Kit, with the Lands Titles Registration Office's enduring power of attorney form (Form P2).
• Witness: the attesting witness, or at least one of them if there is more than one, must be authorised by law to take affidavits (s6(2)(a)). That includes a Commissioner for taking affidavits in the Supreme Court, a justice of the peace, a notary public, and a police officer other than a probationary constable (Oaths Act 1936 (SA) s27A(3), Sch 1 cl 2).
• Acceptance: the attorney must sign a statement of acceptance in the Schedule 2 form (s6(2)(b)).
• If your attorney may need to deal with land, check with the land titles office or a lawyer what is needed.

Tasmania

• Law: Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas).
• Form: Form 3 (particular powers) or Form 4 (general powers), or a deed (s30(1)). Land Tasmania publishes the official forms.
• Witnesses: two witnesses, neither a party to the document nor a close relative of a party, who witness it in your presence and each other's, and who each declare that they are neither (s9(1)).
• Acceptance: the attorney signs the acceptance in the form (s30(2)(c)).
• Registration: an act done under a power of attorney has no legal effect unless the power was registered first (s16). Registration is with the Recorder of Titles, using Form 5 (ss3, 4).

Australian Capital Territory

• Law: Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (ACT).
• Form: if the Minister approves a form, it must be used (s96). The current approved form is AF2017-45.
• Who can make one: an adult who understands the nature and effect of making it (ss13, 17).
• Who can be an attorney: a person 18 or over (s13(3)). For property matters, not someone who is bankrupt or personally insolvent, and no corporation other than the Public Trustee and Guardian or a trustee company (s14).
• Witnesses: two adult witnesses, signing in your presence and each other's (s19). Neither can be an attorney or the person signing for you, only one can be a relative of you or an attorney, and one must be authorised to witness a statutory declaration (s21). Each signs a certificate (s22).
• Acceptance: the attorney must accept by signing (s23).
• Land: the Act notes that the deed must be registered for a dealing with land by the attorney to be registered (s29, note).

Northern Territory

The NT uses an advance personal plan rather than an enduring power of attorney. In it you can appoint decision makers, including for property and financial affairs (Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (NT) s8). A new enduring power of attorney can no longer be made in the NT, but one made there before the advance personal planning law started continues to have effect (Powers of Attorney Act 1980 (NT) s13 and the note to Part III).

• Who can make one: an adult with planning capacity (s8).
• Form: the approved form must be used if a decision maker will have financial powers (s9). The NT Government publishes information and the form.
• Who can be a decision maker: an individual 18 or over, a licensed trustee company, the Public Trustee or the Public Guardian (s15).
• Witness: one authorised witness: a person authorised to administer an oath under the Oaths, Affidavits and Declarations Act 2010 (NT), or a person prescribed by regulation. The witness certifies the matters in the Act (s10).
• Land: a dealing in land by a decision maker generally has no effect unless the plan is registered (s55A).

How WillBuddy fits in

WillBuddy makes wills. It does not currently prepare powers of attorney or advance personal plans. If you want one, use your state or territory's official form and follow its witnessing and acceptance steps carefully. WillBuddy cannot promise that any document is valid. If you are unsure about anything, particularly if you own land, a business or assets in more than one state, please get legal advice.

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Sources

• Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic)
• Powers of Attorney Regulations 2025 (Vic)
• Powers of Attorney Act 2003 (NSW)
• Powers of Attorney Regulation 2024 (NSW)
• Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld)
• Land Title Act 1994 (Qld)
• Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA)
• Oaths, Affidavits and Statutory Declarations Act 2005 (WA)
• Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984 (SA)
• Oaths Act 1936 (SA)
• Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas)
• Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (ACT)
• Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (NT)
• Powers of Attorney Act 1980 (NT)