A Power of Attorney is a legal document that authorises another person to manage the donor’s financial and legal affairs. Dealing with land is only one aspect of that authority, and the obligations and consequences may not always be fully understood. A Power of Attorney must be lodged before an attorney can deal with land in South Australia on the donor’s behalf.
Important:
Consider obtaining independent legal advice before making, accepting or acting under a Power of Attorney. For general information, see SA.GOV.AU — Power of attorney, the Legal Services Commission’s Power of Attorney brochure and its Enduring Power of Attorney Kit.
Land Services SA staff can answer direct questions about lodgement and acceptance requirements. They cannot provide legal advice or assist with preparing a Power of Attorney.
Lodging a Power of Attorney
If an attorney needs to sell, transfer, mortgage, lease or otherwise deal with South Australian land for the donor, the Power of Attorney must first be deposited with Land Services SA. You may also choose to lodge it before it is needed so its form can be checked while the donor is able to correct or re-execute it if necessary.
The relevant form and guidance notes are available under Registration Forms on the Forms and Guidance Notes page.
1. Complete the Form
Before you lodge
- Use the appropriate Power of Attorney form and complete all required details.
- Ensure the document is signed, witnessed and accepted as required.
- Check that the document meets Land Services SA form and printing standards.
- Confirm the current lodgement fee on the Property Transaction Fees page before submitting the document.
2. Lodge the Form
Note – At least one Original and one photocopy must be presented for lodgement.
Sec 156(3) of the Real Property Act 1886 states that the original must be compared to the duplicate before it can be deposited.
Lodge your completed form with Land Services SA either in person or by post:
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- Office hours between 9am – 5pm; Level 9, 101 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000
- GPO Box 543, Adelaide SA 5000
3. Completion
Once the document has been deposited, a Confirmation of Registration notice will be automatically provided to the email address provided by lodging party
Original document will be returned via Registered Post
Duties and obligations of the donee
A donee has an absolute and unconditional duty to always act in the best interests of the donor. It is an offence to act against the interests of the donor under section 7 of the Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984.
Checking a deposited Power of Attorney
Once a Power of Attorney has been deposited with Land Services SA, it can be searched through the Benefitting Name Search within SAILIS (SAILIS Account holders only)
You can search using any of the following criteria:
- family name / organisation name
- given names
- dealing from year
- dealing type (PA – Power of Attorney should be entered)
Log in to SAILIS and navigate to Dealing Search > Benefitting Name Search to complete the search.
Please note that the information you provide is used for publicly searchable registers and indexes. Should you believe that your safety may be put at risk by having your address displayed in the results of a search of SAILIS records using your name, you can submit to the Registrar-General an Application for Name Search Suppression. For more information please visit our suppress your address on name searches of LTO records webpage.
Related information
If a Power of Attorney that has been deposited with Land Services SA is revoked, the revocation must also be lodged with Land Services SA.
For information about making or revoking a Power of Attorney, visit SA.GOV.AU — Power of attorney. The Legal Services Commission also provides a Power of Attorney brochure and a detailed Enduring Power of Attorney Kit.