When you have asked for someone to be made your nominee we’ll appoint them if we can.
But there is information we’ll need to collect, and things we’ll need to think about, before we decide to appoint someone to be your nominee.
We’ll ask you and your proposed nominee some questions.
We’ll think about the answers we get to these questions before we decide to appoint your proposed nominee.
We’ll ask:
- Has your proposed nominee given written consent to be made your nominee?
- Have you and your nominee thought about your wishes, and how you might communicate them to your nominee?
- Will the nominee appointment have a positive or negative effect on your relationships with your family, friends and informal networks?
- Do you already have any arrangement with your proposed nominee?
- Have you and your proposed nominee talked about how they will help you to build your capacity to make decisions for yourself?
- Has your proposed nominee put any pressure on you to make them your nominee?
- What do some of the other people who support you think about your proposed nominee being your representative decision maker?
- Is your proposed nominee willing and able to:
- work with others who look after your wellbeing
- involve you in decision-making
- help you to make decisions for yourself
- work out what judgements and decisions you’d want to make for yourself
- do all the activities needed of a nominee, for example, they might have to enter into contracts on your behalf.
- Does your proposed nominee understand what they need to do in this role, and will they be able to carry out these responsibilities?
- Do you trust your proposed nominee?
- Is your proposed nominee sensitive to your cultural and language background?
- Can your proposed nominee understand and work with any communication system or other supports you have (including relevant technology)?
- Do you make life decisions without help from a court or participant appointed decision maker?
- Does your proposed nominee have any conflict of interest with you?
- Does your proposed nominee have any convictions that would make them not suitable to be your nominee?
- Has your proposed nominee given any information or answered any questions in relation to their appointment, or refused to, particularly about any criminal history or conflicts of interest?
We need to think about their answers to these questions, and also think about them being your nominee if they refuse to answer the questions.
We’re responsible for making the final decision on who is appointed as your nominee for the NDIS.
However, we can’t appoint a nominee unless they have agreed to their appointment in writing.
If the person you want to be your nominee can’t be appointed for some reason, we’ll discuss this with you.
We’ll discuss if there is someone else we can appoint, or help you come up with another option to support you in making decisions.
We’ll also talk with you about what type of nominee you want them to be.
Learn more about the different types of nominees.
