Why You Need a Power of Attorney in Every State You Own Assets
Sun Tzu in The Art of War tells us that warfare is based on deception. Australian state governments play the exact same game.
Australia consists of eight proud, separate jurisdictions. They have their own football teams. Each state is the master of its domain. Yet, since time immemorial, state governments forget their sovereignty ends at the border and look to exercise control beyond it.
Machiavelli warns that a promise made in peacetime is swiftly broken on the battlefield. Australian states prove this daily.
They cheekily pass legislation telling foreign jurisdictions to accept their Enduring (Money) POAs and Medical/Lifestyle POGs. States pass laws claiming their POAs work interstate. Or they (falsely) promise to honour out-of-state POAs. This creates a dangerous, false sense of security. For example:
- New South Wales claims an interstate enduring power of attorney has effect in NSW as if made under the Powers of Attorney Act 2003 (NSW) s 25.
- Similarly, Queensland claims an interstate document is recognised to the extent the powers could validly have been given under the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld) s 34.
So surely Queensland and NSW are friends. Not so. Armed with a QLD Enduring POA, the innocent lawyer confidently strides into the NSW Land Registry Services on Liverpool Street. They are confronted by a mirthful bureaucrat:
‘We won’t let you lodge that, whatever it is.’
You plead, ‘It is a QLD POA.’ You show them the QLD legislation. It states that QLD POAs work in NSW. The supervisor wanders out:
‘We are happy to lodge this strange-looking document if you can get a NSW Court order requiring us to accept whatever this is.’ (You hear sniggering in the background.)
With the final blow:
‘Best to go home, son. We are proud NSW people here, and Queensland does not tell us what to do. Quite the contrary.’
These laws are false promises; they trick you. One state cannot force another state to accept its laws. Banks and title offices reject interstate documents like POAs. As humans, we fear foreigners and their strange belief systems.
The Two Types of Powers of Attorney
Before we consider the court case, consider the two separate Powers. They do completely different jobs.
- Enduring POA (Money): This document governs your financial affairs. It lets someone buy and sell real estate, operate bank accounts, and pay their bills.
- Medical/Lifestyle POG (Human Body): This document manages your physical body. It controls your lifestyle, dictating where you live and what medical treatment you receive. Unhelpfully, each state uses a different name for this document:
- Enduring Power of Guardianship – New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia
- Enduring Power of Attorney – Australian Capital Territory and Queensland
And then, in pure arrogance, these three governments make up their own naming conventions:
-
- Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker – Victoria (only a mother would love that child)
- Advance Care Directive – South Australia
- Advance Personal Plan – Northern Territory
Court Case UI: Powers of Attorney destroyed by another state
Above, the NSW Titles Office taunts the young lawyer to seek a NSW court order. In the UI [2026] TASCAT 30, the son attempts to do just that, with horrifying results. Meet Mr UI. He is 87 years old. (The Tasmanian Tribunal removes the real names to protect privacy.) Mr UI lived in South Australia. He did the right thing, he signed a South Australian:
- Enduring POA (money)
- Medical POA (called an Advance Care Directive).
In both documents, he appoints his son to look after his money and his body. The son does a good job. He helps his father sell his South Australian home. He accounts for every cent. Lovingly, he then moves his father to Tasmania to live with him. The son assumed the South Australian POAs remain valid as they cross the Bass Strait. He was wrong.
The dutiful son is left powerless. His Dad’s out-of-state POA did not work as it was not recognised in Tasmania. A government agency takes control of his father.The Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rejects the Money POA
The family fights. The daughter in South Australia applies to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal). She claims the son has no legal right to act in Tasmania. Why did she win? In most of Australia, you do not ‘register’ a POA at a government office. You just sign it and keep it safe. The POA is valid once signed. For example, you only lodge it at a Land Titles Office at the time you deal with real estate. Lodging at the local titles office does not create the validity; the POA is already valid.
Only Tasmania required ‘registration’
Tasmania is the odd one out. In Tasmania, a Money POA (and Medical POG) has no legal effect until you register it with the government department. Registration creates validity. The son tried to rely on the false lie of ‘mutual recognition’. He argues that because he lodged the document back home under the Real Property Act 1886 (SA) s 156, Tasmania should recognise it under a ‘corresponding law’ as per the Powers of Attorney Act 2000 (Tas) s 42(1). The Tribunal ruled this was not a corresponding law. The South Australian lodgement process serves only land-related transactions. It does not create validity. Therefore, it is nothing like the Tasmanian registration requirement. The South Australian POA failed the moment his dad arrived in Hobart. The son had no power to touch his father’s money in Tasmania.
Public Guardian Takes Over the Medical POA Across State Borders in the UI case
The Medical Power of Guardianship also fails. Just like the Money Enduring POA, a Medical POG in Tasmania is useless unless it is registered. Under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1995 (Tas) ss 81A(5), 89(1)(c), an interstate Medical POA must be registered directly with the Tasmanian Tribunal to be recognised. The son was not able to do so with the ‘exotic’ South Australian ‘Advanced Care Directive’. (To add to the confusion, the expression has a completely different meaning in Tasmania.) The exotic South Australian Medical POG fails. The son had no legal power to decide where his father lived. The Tasmanian Tribunal steps in to ‘help’.
‘I am from the government, and I am here to help you’
The Tribunal did not simply give the power back to the son. Instead, they appointed the Tasmanian Public Guardian. The Public Guardian is a government instrument. A stranger. This stranger was given the power to decide whether the father would stay in Tasmania or move back to South Australia. The father’s written wishes lost all force simply because he crossed a state border.
How to Protect Real Estate and Assets Across State Borders
About one-third of POAs and Medical POGs innocently prepared on a government website do not work in their home state. For out-of-state POAs and POGs, nearly 100% of Title offices and financial institutions reject them. We do not blame them. The local banks and title offices do not have the resources to review a 22-page POA when their local POA is only 2 pages long. If you lose capacity, you cannot sign a new local power of attorney. Control passes to the whim of a government tribunal. Do not let the government take over your life. Follow these rules:
- For Real Estate and Money: Build a separate Money POA in every state where you own land. If you own a property in Western Australia and the ACT, you require both a WA POA and an ACT POA.
- For Medical and Lifestyle: Build the Medical POA in the state where you live. A Medical POA only works in your home state. It does not work in another state. If you live in South Australia, build a South Australian Medical POA. If you may move to sunny QLD in your old age to be with a child, build a Medical POG in QLD now as well.
- The Attorney’s Location is Irrelevant: Where your attorney lives does not matter. You can appoint a son living in London or South Africa. The document remains valid. The document’s jurisdiction must align with the location of the asset (for money) or your body (for medical), not the attorney’s location.
Build and sign additional POAs and POGs early, as required. When you lose mental capacity, the window closes, and the government takes over.
| Build these Estate Planning documents | |
|---|---|
| Estate Planning Bundle (Recommended) – 3G Testamentary Trust Wills, Enduring and Medical POAs | |
| Last Will and Testament – reduces the 4 defacto death duties & 32% tax on your superannuation | |
| Enduring Power of Attorney – stop government meddling, every Australian state & territory | |
| Medical POAs, Guardianships, Directives & Medical Treatment Decision Maker – lifestyle in each state | |
| Company Power of Attorney – for insane, missing and dead directors |
| Free Online Training Courses |
|---|
| Estate Planning Training Course – Free |
| Protecting Vulnerable Children in Wills Training Course – Free |
| Advisers, Licensees and Accounting Practices – Quality Assurance | |
|---|---|
| Standards & Accreditation – for building Estate Planning documents on our law firm’s website |
| Build additional Estate Planning documents online | |
|---|---|
| Contractual Will Agreement – for second marriages | |
| Spouse Loan Agreement | |
| Loans to Children – override Family and Bankruptcy Courts | |
| Loans to Parents | |
| Forgive a Debt Agreement – also gets rid of Family Trust’s UPEs | |
| Deed of Gift – survives your death | |
| Who controls the Family Trust at death? – succession planning | |
| Who gets your Self-Managed Superannuation at death | |
| Reversionary Kit for an SMSF keeps super going when you die | |
| Vest and get rid of a Family Trust | |
| Vest and wind up Unit Trust | |
| Vest and wind up old Self-Managed Superannuation Fund |