Self-Determination Rights: Adult Protection Association Fears Setback
It is "regrettable that the plans to expand the adult protection associations now have to be put on hold due to the precarious budget situation," said Gerlinde Heim, the managing director of the association, in a statement on Friday.
Although there is relief that there will be no budget cuts, Heim criticized that the self-determination rights provided for in the Adult Protection Act, which has been in force since 2018, are now being rolled back. In the future, court-appointed adult representatives will be appointed not for three but for five years. Furthermore, after the expiration of an adult representation, the mandatory clarification by the adult protection associations will be omitted.
Reappointment of a Representation as a Formal Act
"So far, on behalf of the court, we have checked in every case whether a representation is still needed or whether there are alternatives that allow more self-determination," Heim explains. It is therefore feared that without mandatory clearing, the reappointment of an adult representation will become a formal act in many cases and "automatically" lead to an extension of the court representation - regardless of whether the life circumstances or medical condition of the affected persons have changed.
"Even if it will be possible for us to take on more court-appointed adult representations overall due to fewer clearings, we are concerned that important self-determination rights are being pushed back. In individual cases, this can lead to the court-appointed adult representation existing for too long or the independent external view of representation relationships being omitted."
Adult Protection Association Sees Setback in Self-Determination
Criticism regarding self-determination was also voiced by Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz (SPÖ). The number of adult representations should not be unnecessarily increased by making such representation a condition for admission in facilities for people with disabilities, as well as in nursing and care homes. "Apparently, some operators want to make it easy for themselves and prefer to only ask the adult representative when it comes to medical treatments, for example - instead of using all possibilities of supported communication to act according to the will of those affected."
There were nearly 34,800 court-appointed adult representations in Austria at the end of 2024, with Representation Network taking on 22 percent of all representations in its area of responsibility as the largest adult protection association. 6,824 people with intellectual or psychological impairments were represented over the course of the previous year.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.