There may come times when you need to appoint someone to manage your financial affairs on your behalf.
To help you in this process, here are some simple guidelines.
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Power of Attorney
What is a Power of Attorney?
It’s a legal document that gives a trusted person the legal authority to act for you and make financial or legal decisions.
In case of an accident, sudden illness, planned or unexpected absence, or when you just can’t cope, you may need to appoint someone to act on your behalf.
Before appointing someone to manage your finances on your behalf, we recommend for you to seek independent advice.
Three ways someone can act on your behalf
General Power of Attorney
This lets someone temporarily manage your affairs in your absence, like if you’re travelling overseas and need someone to access your bank accounts on your behalf.
Enduring Power of Attorney
An Enduring Power of Attorney lets someone manage your affairs on a long term basis, even if you lose the capacity to make decisions.
Financial management order (also known as an administration order)
Not as common as a Power of Attorney, and is generally appointed by a tribunal if a person is unable to make their own decisions.
Understanding the process
1. Visit a branch or via post
It can take up to 60 minutes if you are visiting a local branch (WA only), and the person you are giving authority to will need to be there too.
What to bring:
- Two forms of identification (for both of you) – see which ID types we’ll accept
- A certified copy of the Power of Attorney document
- We’ll let you know which forms we need, and set up access for the person acting on your behalf.
If you are unable to visit a branch you can also post certified copies of the documents stated below:
- A certified copy of the Power of Attorney document, certified in the last six months – see our document certification guide (PDF)
- The completed Power of Attorney Details form (PDF).
Completed documents should be posted to: Account Maintenance, GPO Box E237, Perth WA 6841.
If you are not an existing Bankwest customer you may be required to visit a participating Australia Post outlet to complete additional identification.
2. We’ll take it from there
It usually takes one to three days to process. After that, we’ll contact you to let you know the next steps.
Frequently asked questions
Info at your fingertips
No – they’ll need their own debit card and login details for online banking.
For security reasons, please don’t share your card or bank details with anyone – even if they’re managing your account.
A person acting under a Power of Attorney can have:
- Their own debit card (linked to your account)
- Access to online banking (separate login details to you)
- A verbal password to bank over the phone and in a branch.
They'll need to come along to your appointment too. Depending on the level of authority you’ve given them, there might be documents for them to fill out. We’ll help you through the process.
If you no longer need someone to act on your behalf, or you’ve changed the person who’s managing your finances, please get in touch, and we can help.
Contact your State or Territory Public Trustee’s office, Public Advocate or visit their websites for further information.
Support when you need it most
We’ve created a step-by-step guide to help explain the process.
If your situation has changed and you need support, here are all the ways we could help.
Need more help?
You can message us in the Bankwest App or online banking, or call us – we're here 24/7.
