Enduring Power of Attorney in Australia: Rules by State

An enduring power of attorney lets a person appoint someone, called their attorney, to make financial or personal decisions if they later lose capacity, but the document’s name, scope and witnessing requirements differ sharply across Australia’s eight states and territories.

What an Enduring Power of Attorney Does

An enduring power of attorney is a legal document in which a person, the principal, appoints someone else, their attorney, to make decisions on their behalf. Unlike an ordinary power of attorney, an enduring power of attorney continues to operate even after the principal loses the mental capacity to make decisions themselves, which is the entire point of having one in place before it is needed. In Australian usage, the attorney is simply the person appointed to act; it does not mean a lawyer, a distinction worth keeping in mind since some other countries' terminology uses "attorney" to mean a legal practitioner. What the document actually covers, financial matters only, or financial and personal matters together, and what it is called, differs by jurisdiction, covered below. Every jurisdiction also allows an ordinary, non-enduring power of attorney for a limited period or purpose, such as while the principal is travelling, which automatically ends if the principal loses capacity; it is only the enduring version that is built to keep operating through incapacity, which is why the enduring document needs the more formal execution and witnessing requirements set out below.

The Instrument in Each Jurisdiction

The table below summarises the enduring power of attorney instrument, its scope, and its witnessing requirement in each of the eight jurisdictions.

For each jurisdiction's full machinery, including official forms, fees, registration and revocation, see the state guides: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Queensland: One Document, One Witness

Queensland's approach is the clearest outlier in the country. Queensland's Powers of Attorney Act 1998 lets a single enduring power of attorney cover both financial and personal or health matters with one eligible witness under section 44. No other mainland state combines that breadth in one document: Victoria and Western Australia require two witnesses, and while New South Wales and South Australia also use a single witness, both restrict it to a defined professional category and confine the document to financial and legal matters. A separate Advance Health Directive is also available in Queensland for a person who wants to record specific health care wishes in advance, but it additionally requires a treating doctor's or nurse practitioner's certificate confirming the person had capacity to understand what they were signing, a requirement the enduring power of attorney itself does not carry.

Tasmania: Registration Is Mandatory

Tasmania is the only jurisdiction in Australia where an enduring power of attorney has no legal effect at all unless it is registered. Section 16 of the Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas) requires the document to be registered with the Recorder of Titles before it can operate, a step that is optional, or tied only to dealings with land, in every other jurisdiction. A Tasmanian enduring power of attorney that is signed and witnessed correctly but never registered simply does not take legal effect, which makes registration, not just execution, the step that actually matters in Tasmania.

Northern Territory: The Advance Personal Plan

The Northern Territory has moved away from the traditional enduring power of attorney model entirely. Under the Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (NT), a person makes a single Advance Personal Plan that can combine financial decision-making authority with advance-care-directive style personal and health decisions, rather than using two separate instruments as several other jurisdictions do. New enduring powers of attorney under the Territory's older Powers of Attorney Act 1980 Part III can no longer be created; that route closed on 17 March 2014, though an enduring power of attorney made under the old Act before that date remains valid and continues to be recognised.

Victoria: Combined Financial and Personal, Separate Medical Treatment

Victoria sits between the two-document jurisdictions and Queensland's fully combined approach. A single Victorian enduring power of attorney, made under the Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic), can appoint an attorney for both financial matters and personal matters (such as where the principal lives or their day-to-day care), avoiding the need for a second document for those two categories. Medical treatment decisions, however, sit in a separate instrument again, an Advance Care Directive made under the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic), which is used specifically to record consent or refusal of particular medical treatments and to appoint a medical treatment decision maker.

Choosing and Preparing an Attorney

Whichever jurisdiction applies, the attorney appointed under an enduring power of attorney should be someone the principal trusts completely, since the role carries significant power over the principal's finances (and, in the jurisdictions where the two are combined, personal decisions) once the document takes effect. Most jurisdictions let a principal appoint more than one attorney, jointly, severally, or for different matters, and most also let the principal set conditions or limits on the attorney's authority. Because each jurisdiction's prescribed form, witnessing rules and, in Tasmania's case, registration requirement differ, a document intended for a specific person should be prepared using that jurisdiction's official form, ideally with advice from a legal practitioner admitted there or through the relevant Public Trustee, rather than a generic template. See Enduring Guardianship and Health Decisions in Australia for the separate personal and health-decision instruments in the jurisdictions that keep them apart from the financial enduring power of attorney. Reviewing the document periodically, and after any major change such as a relocation to another state or territory, a falling out with the appointed attorney, or a significant change in the principal's assets, is good practice even where the original document remains technically valid. The Australia enduring power of attorney checker lists the witnessing, acceptance and registration requirements for all eight states and territories with a checklist.

This article provides general legal information about enduring powers of attorney in Australia. It is not legal advice and does not take into account your individual circumstances, and it does not provide a document template or generator. Terminology, scope, witnessing requirements and registration rules differ between New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. This information was last verified on 20 July 2026. For help preparing an enduring power of attorney, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant state or territory, or that jurisdiction’s Public Trustee.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an enduring power of attorney?

A legal document appointing an attorney, the person given authority to act, to make financial or, in some jurisdictions, personal decisions on the principal’s behalf, which continues to operate even after the principal loses capacity.

Does "attorney" mean a lawyer in an Australian power of attorney?

No. In Australian usage, the attorney is simply the person appointed to act under the document, not a legal practitioner.

Which states require two separate documents for financial and personal decisions?

New South Wales and Western Australia both split them: an enduring power of attorney for financial matters, and a separate Enduring Guardianship (NSW) or Enduring Power of Guardianship (WA) for personal and health matters.

Why is Queensland’s enduring power of attorney different?

Queensland combines financial and personal or health authority into one document and requires only one eligible witness under section 44 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld), where Victoria and Western Australia require two; New South Wales and South Australia also use a single witness from a restricted professional category.

Do I have to register an enduring power of attorney?

In most jurisdictions, only if it is being used to deal with land. Tasmania is the exception: registration with the Recorder of Titles is mandatory for the document to have any legal effect at all, under section 16 of the Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas).

What does the Northern Territory use instead of an enduring power of attorney?

An Advance Personal Plan, made under the Advance Personal Planning Act 2013 (NT), which can combine financial and advance-care-directive functions in a single document. New enduring powers of attorney under the Territory’s old 1980 Act can no longer be made.

Can I use one state’s enduring power of attorney form in another state?

Generally not reliably. Some jurisdictions have interstate recognition arrangements for enduring powers of attorney, but the safest approach is to use the form and formalities of the jurisdiction where the document is most likely to be needed, or seek advice if the principal has connections to more than one jurisdiction.

What is the difference between an enduring power of attorney and enduring guardianship?

An enduring power of attorney generally covers financial and legal decisions. Enduring guardianship, or its equivalent such as an Advance Care Directive, covers personal, lifestyle and health care decisions. Queensland and the Northern Territory combine both into one instrument; several other jurisdictions keep them separate.