The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 8.2: Disability: Asserting your rights 797 mental disorder, brain injury, physical disability, or dementia. The Public Advocate’s office is known as the Office of the Public Advocate ( OPA ) (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). Information and advice OPA provides information and advice to people with disability, their supporters and other members of the community about guardianship and administration, supportive guardianship and administration, applications to VCAT, enduring powers of attorney and supportive attorneys, supported decision- making, the rights of people with disabilities, medical treatment decision-making and advance care directives advocacy. OPA’s community education program conducts regular education sessions and provides written resources and speakers. Complaints and advocacy OPA provides advice in relation to complaints about services, treatment or attitudes of government departments and other agencies. Complaints can be made to the Victorian Ombudsman, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner, the Victorian Disability Services Commissioner, the Victorian Disability Worker Commission, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Quality and Safeguards Commission, and the Victorian Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. If these avenues are inappropriate, OPA may investigate the complaint if it involves abuse, exploitation or the need for guardianship for a person with disability. OPA can refer matters to the Community Visitors Program (see ‘Community Visitors Program’, below) and can seek government assistance on behalf of people with disability. Where individual matters highlight a systemic issue with a law, policy or practice affecting multiple people, OPA may investigate, research and advocate about the issue to seek law reform or system change. These activities include the publication of position statements, preparation of submissions to government inquiries and the publication of reports. OPA has also produced guides to assist people to plan ahead, including Take Control (June 2022). These and other publications can be downloaded from OPA’s website at www.publicadvocate.vic.gov.au. Protection from abuse Generally, where there is an allegation of abuse, mistreatment or exploitation of someone with disability, OPA has the power to investigate if the person needs guardianship (s 16(1)(g) GA Act). If the investigation is blocked by the person or agency involved in the alleged abuse, an application for guardianship may need to be made to VCAT (the Guardianship List), for VCAT to authorise an investigation (sch 1 clause 35 VCAT Act 1998 ) or make a guardianship order or both. Where there is evidence that the person is being illegally detained or is likely to suffer serious harm, VCAT can also authorise active intervention with police assistance (s 43 GA Act). Programs run by the Public Advocate Community Visitors Program The Community Visitors Program has a statutory base in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (Vic), the Disability Act 2006 (Vic) ( ‘Disability Act’ ) and the Supported Residential Services (Private Proprietors) Act 2010 (Vic). The program is administered and coordinated by OPA. Community Visitors are community volunteers appointed by the Governor-in-Council who regularly visit: • disability accommodation for people with psychosocial, cognitive or intellectual disabilities; • registered supported residential services; and • public mental health units. Community Visitors have the power to enter unannounced and make enquiries, access documentation and consult with anyone involved in the provision of services or the administration of a facility. They talk to residents on issues such as: • the adequacy of services; • standards within the facility; • the care and treatment being received; and • social and community inclusion.