What an enduring guardian does
An enduring guardian makes decisions about your personal life, not your money. Depending on what you give them power over, that can include where you live, what support services you use, and what health care you receive.
The appointment is enduring because it keeps working, or only starts working, when you can no longer make those decisions yourself. You make it while you still have capacity, so you choose the person and the powers. That is the big difference from a guardianship order, which a tribunal makes when no suitable arrangement is in place.
Which states use enduring guardians
Guardianship is state and territory law, so the documents and names differ depending on where you live.
- New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania have a separate enduring guardian appointment for personal and health decisions
- Victoria and Queensland use an enduring power of attorney that can cover personal and health matters as well as financial ones
- South Australia replaced enduring guardians with advance care directives in 2014
- Other states and territories use their own documents, so check with your state's public guardian or public advocate
Enduring guardian vs NDIS nominee
An NDIS nominee is appointed by the NDIA under the NDIS Act to act for you in your NDIS dealings. A correspondence nominee can receive letters and help you deal with the NDIA. A plan nominee can do more, such as help prepare and manage your plan.
Your enduring guardian does not automatically become your nominee. But the NDIS Nominees Rules name an enduring guardian as an example of a participant appointed decision maker. When the NDIA considers appointing a nominee, it must have regard to whether you have one and what they think, and it starts from the presumption that a person with comparable powers should be appointed.
- Enduring guardian: chosen by you, made under state law, covers personal and health decisions in everyday life
- NDIS nominee: appointed by the NDIA, covers your NDIS plan and dealings with the agency only
- Both must consider your wishes, and a nominee has a legal duty to find out what you want and act for your wellbeing
How to have your enduring guardian recognised by the NDIA
Tell the NDIA about the appointment and give them a copy of the document. Ask whether you want your guardian to be your plan nominee or correspondence nominee, or neither. You can still manage your own plan if you are able to, and you can say what you want.
Keep the document somewhere your providers, support coordinator and family can find it. Providers usually need to see it before they will accept decisions or sign a service agreement with your guardian.
What your enduring guardian can do in your NDIS life
Since 27 August 2026 only you, your nominee or your guardian can ask for an unscheduled reassessment of your plan. Support coordinators and other providers can no longer lodge the request for you, so a guardian or nominee who knows your situation matters more than before.
An enduring guardian can also make decisions about which services you use and where you live, within the powers you gave them. Those decisions still need to fit your NDIS plan and the funding in it.
Keeping your own voice
Appointing someone is not giving up control. Good guardians and nominees use supported decision making: they help you make your own choices wherever possible and only decide for you when they must. Choose someone who knows you well, respects your values and will involve you.