---
title: "Separate an NSW guardian or financial manager from an NDIS plan nominee"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/ndis-and-disability-law/map-who-may-make-or-support-a-participant-s-ndis-decision/new-south-wales"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A55-NE20261022-6-NSW"
practice_area: "NDIS & Disability Law"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["NSW"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Separate an NSW guardian or financial manager from an NDIS plan nominee

> From the nominee instrument, any guardianship order and any financial management order, list who each document names and which decisions it covers. Do not decide who may make the NDIS decision.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/ndis-and-disability-law/map-who-may-make-or-support-a-participant-s-ndis-decision/new-south-wales  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [NDIS & Disability Law](https://ailawframework.com/practice/ndis-and-disability-law.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | From the nominee instrument, any guardianship order and any financial management order, list who each document names and which decisions it covers. Do not decide who may make the NDIS decision. |
| What the lawyer must review | Decide whether a plan nominee, a guardian or a financial manager has authority for this decision. A New South Wales order is not an appointment of a plan nominee. Check any notice that requires the participant to act personally. Keep medical details in the firm's system. Apply ASCR rule 9, APP 11, and the Privacy Act notifiable-breach test. |
| Written for | New South Wales |
| Applies to | [Map who may make or support a participant's NDIS decision](https://ailawframework.com/practice/ndis-and-disability-law/map-who-may-make-or-support-a-participant-s-ndis-decision.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

The lawyer matches each document to the decision, and does not treat a New South Wales order as an NDIS nomination.

- What the AI does: From the nominee instrument, any guardianship order and any financial management order, list who each document names and which decisions it covers. Do not decide who may make the NDIS decision.
- What the lawyer does: Decide who may make or support this NDIS decision, and who may sign the request.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Section 78 lets a plan nominee do participant acts about the plan, the management of plan funding, and withdrawing under section 29A, except as the instrument of appointment limits.
2. Section 78(4) does not extend to an act that a notice requires the participant to do personally. Section 78(5) limits a nominee appointed on the CEO's initiative to acts the nominee considers the participant is not capable of doing, or of being supported to do.
3. Under section 14, the Tribunal may make a guardianship order if, after a hearing, it is satisfied the person is a person in need of a guardian. Section 14(2) sets out the matters it must consider.
4. Under section 25E, the Tribunal may order that the estate be subject to management under the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009, and may exclude a specified part of the estate. That order is not the instrument in section 78.

## Notes

- Appointment of a plan nominee is in section 86, which was not opened. The Tribunal is the Tribunal under the Guardianship Act 1987. No section of the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009 was opened beyond the reference in section 25E.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: NDIS Act section 78 and the Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW)

**Deliverable**: A document map of who is named and which decisions each document covers. No decision on who should sign.

**Inputs**

- Nominee instrument, if any
- Guardianship order, if any
- Financial management order, if any
- The NDIS decision the lawyer identifies

**Example**: Illustrative example: A financial management order names the NSW Trustee. There is no plan-nominee instrument. The tool lists the order against section 25E and leaves the NDIS decision unsigned. It does not treat the Trustee as a plan nominee.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The instrument of appointment is missing and the tool is asked to treat a guardian as the plan nominee.
- A notice requires the participant to act personally and someone else is shown as signing.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) section 78](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ndisa2013341/s78.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW) section 14](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ga1987136/s14.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Guardianship Act 1987 (NSW) section 25E](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ga1987136/s25e.html) (checked 2026-10-23)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*