A Powers of Attorney Amendment Bill 2016 has been introduced to parliament. The Bill proposes to make various changes to the principal Act, the most welcome of which is to clarify that multiple alternative attorneys can be appointed for one principal attorney or supportive attorney.
Other notable changes include:
- removing the option to make a power of attorney for both financial and personal matters
- specifying that a later power will revoke an earlier power unless the later power specifies otherwise
- where an attorney appointed as part of a majority power is no longer acting as an attorney and the remaining attorneys cannot act by majority then they must act jointly.
The Act, if passed, will come into operation on a day to be proclaimed or on 1 May 2017.