About Capacity Australia

Capacity Australia is a not-for-profit charity that promotes autonomy of decision-making. We believe that while autonomy of decision-making is paramount, it is equally important to ensure that where a person lacks capacity to make their own decisions, the necessary safeguards are in place to prevent abuse, neglect and exploitation.

We are a group of dedicated experts from the medical, legal, ageing and disability fields with experience in capacity, guardianship, disability, mental health and old age psychiatry. While Capacity Australia is based in Sydney NSW, we extend our knowledge, training and assistance to all States and Territories and internationally.

Capacity Australia is the trading name for ACCEPD (Australian Centre for Capacity and Ethics and the prevention of exploitation of People with Disabilities), a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.

Our Vision

Capacity Australia envisages an inclusive global community that supports all persons to participate in decision making to the greatest extent possible, including persons with disabilities that affect their decision-making capacity. Such a community respects the rights and dignity of all persons, and provides necessary safeguards against abuse, exploitation and neglect.

Our Values

Autonomy, Choice, Respect, Dignity of risk, Support, Freedom from exploitation, Authenticity.

Our Mission

What We Do

Capacity Australia’s mission is to increase awareness and understanding of decision-making in disability, and to help facilitate the full participation by persons with disabilities in all aspects of life, in line with the objects of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. To this end, Capacity Australia:

assists persons with disabilities, carers, health professionals, providers of legal and financial services and others to have a greater understanding of the legal and practical requirements for decision-making in disability, and to provide training in assessing decision making capacity in different types of cognitive impairment,
promotes awareness about planning ahead so that individuals can make advance directives about care and choose who will make decisions for them if it becomes necessary in the future, and
contributes to education and research into supporting the capacity of all persons to fully engage personal decision-making to the greatest extent possible.
Capacity Australia also supports initiatives to protect the safety and wellbeing of persons with decision-making disabilities and to prevent their abuse and exploitation

Our Stakeholders

Capacity Australia has a wide variety of stakeholders who are affected by decision-making capacity issues, including:

hospitals, medical practitioners, specialists and other healthcare professionals
the legal profession
financial institutions, financial counsellors and advisers
disability, mental health and aged care organisations and service providers
the community and
people with a decision-making disability, their family, carers and advocates