Who is AASGAA?

The Australian Association to Stop Guardianship and Administration Abuse (AASGAA) is an incorporated Australian not-for-profit organisation founded by advocates with lived experience of the guardianship and administration system.

AASGAA was established after two women—one from South Australia and founder Christine Dalas from Victoria—experienced firsthand the devastating impact of guardianship and public trustee systems while fighting for their loved ones. Since then, many other advocates with lived experience have supported our mission while continuing their own independent advocacy.

We provide free information, education, and peer support to individuals, families, and carers navigating guardianship, administration (trusteeship), and related systems throughout Australia.

Guardianship and administration legislation operates in every Australian state and territory: the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia.

Our Purpose

AASGAA works to:

Raise awareness of the rights of people affected by guardianship and administration. Support families, carers, and individuals through lived experience, information, and advocacy. Promote supported decision-making wherever possible, recognising that limited guardianship orders may sometimes be necessary to protect people with impaired decision-making capacity. Encourage accountability, transparency, and reform where systems fail vulnerable Australians.

Our Position

AASGAA is not opposed to guardianship or administration where it is genuinely necessary and applied lawfully.

Our concern is with the misuse of these powers, particularly where vulnerable people lose unnecessary control over their lives and where families experience significant barriers to challenging decisions.

We also recognise that many individuals and organisations may exercise influence over vulnerable people, including Public Guardians, Public Trustees, tribunal-appointed representatives, service providers, aged care facilities, medical professionals, legal practitioners, and others acting within or around the guardianship system.

Who We Are

AASGAA is a support network that shares lived experiences, practical information, and guidance to help people better understand and navigate guardianship and administration processes.

We are independent and are not affiliated with any political party, government agency, or political movement.

We maintain relationships with international advocates, including the National Association to Stop Guardianship Abuse (NASGA) in the United States, and continue to work alongside Coz Whitten-Skaife in carrying forward the advocacy legacy of the late Marti Oakley.

To help safeguard vulnerable people, AASGAA’s core members undergo police clearance checks before providing advocacy or direct support on behalf of the organisation. These checks are also undertaken regularly to help ensure the ongoing suitability of members involved in such activities.

For the avoidance of doubt, our advocacy during the COVID-19 lockdowns focused on vulnerable people in aged care, patients in hospitals and people with disabilities living in group homes, many of whom were denied basic freedoms, family contact and meaningful access to their loved ones.

We stood by these people, supported their rights and spoke out about the treatment they were experiencing, how the lockdowns isolated them from their loved ones and how their fundamental human rights were breached.

Our views were well known then, and they remain unchanged today. Our commitment to protecting the rights, dignity and freedoms of vulnerable Australians has never wavered.

However, we wish to make one point absolutely clear.

AASGAA was not involved in organising anti-lockdown rallies. Nor did our founder, Christine Dalas, attend any Sydney lockdown protests on 31 August 2021. 

AASGAA’s activities are solely focused on addressing guardianship, administration and Public Trustee abuses, and advocating for the rights and protection of affected individuals.

Although terminology differs internationally—for example, "conservatorship" in the United States—the underlying systems and many of the concerns raised by affected families are remarkably similar across jurisdictions, referred to differently (ie conservatorship in the USA) but the core system and abuses are the same.