Father with dementia has his federal pension cancelled by the government

An Australian Tribunal ruled Centrelink's (the Australian government body responsible for paying aged pension) cancelling of 80-year-old's aged government pension 'absurd and wrong'.

Aged care resident, David Fry has advanced dementia and did not ‘have the capacity to comprehend’.

Administrative Appeals Tribunal criticised Centrelink for cancelling the man’s age pension when he did not “personally have the capacity to comprehend … a decision to suspend his pension”.

The tribunal heard David Fry was living in an aged care home and his son, John, was appointed his legal guardian/Power of Attorney.

John Fry became his father Power of Attorney, hence responsible for managing his father’s dealings with Centrelink, which had been paying David the age pension since 2006.

In ruling against Centrelink, the tribunal member Roger Maguire said it was “difficult to contemplate a person who might be more vulnerable than a hospitalised septuagenarian suffering from dementia”.

Luckily John was able to fight for his father and right this wrong.

Making a Will allows you to assign a Power of Attorney which is an extremely important thing as you can see from the story above. We tend to associate a POA assisting only those with Dementia or Alzheimer's but it also applies if someone has an accident that leaves them with temporary or permanent incapacitation and unable to make decisions for themselves.

POWER OF ATTORNEY- an individual nominated by the testator (you). It gives them authority to act on your behalf in all legal, financial, and welfare matters if you are not of sound mind or unable to make decisions due to being injured, or unwell. That is unable to physically or cognitively communicate.