The functions of the Director of the DSS under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 include registering decision support arrangements, supervising the associated decision supporters and promoting the rights and interests of persons who may need support to make certain decisions.
The Act allows the Director, with the consent of the Minister, to specify certain forms that will be used by people, for example, to create and register a decision support arrangement. This means we can ensure, insofar as is possible, that the forms are clear, accessible and easy-to-use but at the same time compliant with legal requirements.
The Director may specify what format these forms are in, including whether they need to be completed and submitted electronically. The Director has specified that certain forms (please click on the link Overview for further information) shall be in electronic form and submitted to the DSS electronically.
The DSS has created an online portal for the public called MyDSS. MyDSS contains most of the forms required for decision support arrangements and allows people to access, complete and submit relevant forms electronically together with supporting documentation.
This document sets out the circumstances in which a person may use the manual alternative process instead of using MyDSS to access, create and submit forms and documents electronically. This is to help ensure that we focus resources on providing the right level of individual support to such persons and ensure the efficient operation of the service generally.
Resources
You can download the full document at the link Accessibility Policy.
You can download the easy-read document at the link Accessibility Policy easy read
You can download the procedure for emergency EPAs at the link Procedure for processing expedited enduring power of attorney applications or applications that are not on a specified form