Appointed

What each appointed role asks of you
A guide published by Dotto

The file: six lettersAustralia, state by stateChecked 8 October 2026

Re: an appointment

You have been appointed. Here is what the role asks of you.

Appointed is a guide to six roles Australians are appointed to, and to what each one asks of the person who takes it on, written and published by Dotto. Each role has its own letter, built from the official pages of the office that oversees it.

An appointment hands someone authority over another person’s affairs: their estate, their money, their care, their treatment, their dealings with Centrelink, or the documents they swear. Every one of these roles also comes with duties, and the letters set them out plainly.

General information, not legal, financial or medical advice. The letters describe the rules; they don’t say whether to accept a role or what to do in a particular matter. Each letter ends with the official office that can explain how the rules apply.

A blank white sheet of paper and a red wooden pen on a timber table, beside a cup of black coffee and a sprig of red berries.
Photo by kaboompics on Pixabay

§1The letters in the file

  1. 01

    Appointed as an executor

    New South Wales: the duties from the death to the final distribution, when the estate may be handed out, and the mistakes that can cost an executor personally.

    Appointed by a will · Office to ask: NSW Trustee and Guardian

  2. 02

    Appointed as an enduring attorney

    Victoria, then New South Wales: reading the appointment, deciding for someone else, the records and the money rules, and what an attorney cannot do.

    Appointed by the person · Office to ask: Office of the Public Advocate

  3. 03

    Appointed as a guardian

    Three routes compared: an NSW enduring guardian, an NSW guardian by order, and a Victorian guardian appointed by VCAT, with Victoria’s list of duties.

    Appointed by the person or a tribunal · Office to ask: Office of the Public Advocate

  4. 04

    Appointed as a medical treatment decision maker

    Victoria: who holds the role, when a health practitioner turns to you, and the steps the law sets for deciding.

    Appointed by the person, or by the order of a list · Office to ask: Office of the Public Advocate

  5. 05

    Appointed as a Centrelink nominee

    The four acting arrangements side by side, the payment nominee’s records, and how an arrangement is set up and ended.

    Appointed by the person, with Services Australia · Office to ask: Services Australia

  6. 06

    Appointed as a justice of the peace

    Victoria: the oath, what a JP witnesses and where the role stops, the rules on fees and the title, and witnessing a power of attorney.

    Appointed by the Governor in Council · Office to ask: Honorary Justice Services Support

§2What the roles have in common

Read side by side, the official pages ask the same few things of very different people. Four threads run through the file:

  1. The other person’s interests come first. A payment nominee uses Centrelink payments only for the person’s benefit. A Victorian guardian gives effect to the person’s will and preferences unless that would seriously harm them.
  2. Keep records. A Victorian attorney keeps accurate records and accounts of every financial dealing. A payment nominee keeps records of how the money is spent, and must produce them if Services Australia asks.
  3. No profit, no conflict. A Victorian guardian must not use the position for profit or act with a conflict of interest, unless the law or VCAT allows it. A Victorian JP commits an offence by accepting any fee, gift or reward for the work.
  4. Mistakes can be personal. In NSW an executor who hands out the estate before its debts are paid may be personally liable for them. In Victoria an attorney whose failure causes a loss can be ordered to pay compensation.

§3How each appointment is made

Who makes each appointment, and how it begins
RoleWho appointsHow it begins
Executor (NSW)The will names the executor.The role begins at the death; the Supreme Court formally appoints the executor by granting probate.
Enduring attorney (Vic)The principal, in an enduring power of attorney.The attorney formally accepts, stating they understand their obligations; the form says when the power starts.
Enduring guardian (NSW)The person, in an Appointment of Enduring Guardian.The guardian starts deciding only when the person can no longer decide.
Guardian by order (Vic)VCAT.The order names the matters the guardian decides.
Medical treatment decision maker (Vic)The person, or, where no one was appointed, the order of a list set by law.Only when the person lacks capacity for the decision in front of them.
Centrelink nomineeThe person, jointly with the nominee.Services Australia writes to both once the arrangement is in place.
Justice of the peace (Vic)The Governor in Council, on the Attorney-General’s recommendation.An oath or affirmation of office before a magistrate, before any duties.

§4Before you sign anything

Some of these roles begin with a choice. The NSW Government’s guide says a named executor has no legal obligation to act. A Centrelink nominee request sent online has to be answered within 14 days. And in Victoria, an attorney’s formal acceptance is itself a statement that they understand the obligations and the consequences of not meeting them. Reading the letter for a role before accepting it is one way to know what that statement means.