Guides / Supportive and general powers
Supportive attorneys and general (non-enduring) powers of attorney
An enduring power of attorney is not the only appointment under the Victorian Act. Two others suit different needs: a supportive attorney appointment and a general non-enduring power of attorney.
Supportive attorney appointment
- What it is. You appoint someone to support you to make and carry out your own decisions. The decisions stay yours.
- What the supporter can do, if you authorise it: obtain your personal information from organisations, communicate information and your decisions, and take reasonable steps to give effect to your decisions.
- What they cannot do. Give effect to a decision about a significant financial transaction, such as a real estate transaction (other than a lease of the home you live in), a loan or guarantee, an investment (other than up to $10,000 in total in interest bearing bank accounts), or buying or selling substantial personal property. Medical treatment is outside the appointment.
- Who it suits. A person with a disability, or an older person, who can decide but wants help dealing with banks, utilities and agencies.
- When it stops working. It has no effect during any period when you lack capacity for the matters it covers. It is not a substitute for an enduring power.
- The supporter must act honestly, cannot be paid, and must be 18 or over, not an insolvent under administration, and not your care worker, health provider or accommodation provider.
- Making it. In the prescribed form, signed in front of two adult witnesses. One must be a person who can witness a statutory declaration, and one must not be a relative of yours or of the supporter, or your care worker or accommodation provider. The supporter cannot be a witness.
General non-enduring power of attorney
- What it is. A power for someone to act for you, usually for a set task or time: signing a contract while you are overseas, or running an account during a hospital stay.
- The form. A power in or to the effect of the form in the Schedule to the Act authorises the attorney to do anything you can lawfully do by an attorney.
- Signing. You sign it. Witnesses are required only if someone signs at your direction, in which case two other people must witness.
- Start. When you specify, or once made.
- Limits. The attorney cannot delegate unless the power says so, and it does not pass on your functions as a trustee.
- Loss of capacity. Under the general law a power of attorney ends when the person who gave it loses mental capacity. Only an enduring power continues.
- Use overseas. See Powers of attorney for use overseas.
Which one do I need?
| You want | Consider |
|---|---|
| Someone to decide for you if you cannot | Enduring power of attorney |
| Help making and carrying out your own decisions | Supportive attorney appointment |
| Someone to do a specific thing for a time | General non-enduring power of attorney |
| Someone to make medical treatment decisions | Medical treatment decision maker (separate Act) |
Next step
Not sure which appointment you need? Send instructions or call 1800 776 529.
Supportive attorney: the law
- Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic) ss 7 to 11, 22, 84 to 91, 94 to 98, 102, sch.
Last reviewed: November 2026. This page is general information about Victorian law as at November 2026. It is not legal advice about your circumstances.
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