Queensland Public Trustee—Our history and what we do
We are proud to have been established on 1 January 1916 to create Wills for Queenslanders departing for the First World War. There have been quite a lot of changes since then, but we have always been an organisation serving the interests of Queenslanders.
Today we operate as a government entity, and our work now includes financial administration, life-planning services, private probate services, deceased estate and trust administration, managing the unclaimed moneys register and other essential services for Queenslanders.
We provide Queenslanders with trusted and expert knowledge, as well as trustworthy, reputable and reliable services and support.
We call ourselves Queensland Public Trustee to encompass our whole organisation and all its work, but formal and legal documentation like court papers and contracts needs to use Public Trustee of Queensland instead, which is the legal entity established under the Public Trustee Act 1978.
Our Purpose and vision
Purpose—To provide trusted financial decision-making advocacy, education and services and empower Queenslanders to plan and prepare for key life events.
Our people-focused approach helps us meet the individual needs of our customers with humanity, respect, integrity and diligence.
Vision—A value-for-money, independent state trustee service dedicated to advancing and safeguarding the rights, interests and wishes of Queenslanders in need of financial management, estate and trust administration and planning support.
Our commitment to putting people first
We are mindful of our responsibilities to our customers and to all Queenslanders. We want to contribute to society by being a trusted, transparent and customer- and people-focused organisation. Our social responsibility charter guides how we operate, communicate and interact with everyone. Every team member of Queensland Public Trustee works to this charter, helping us to deliver the most ethical and reliable services to the community.
In the Customers First Strategy, Queensland Public Trustee commits to being a sustainable, modern and customer-centric organisation. This ensures that our customers are the focus of all our processes and decisions. Through this strategy, we set an expectation on ourselves and explore how we will continue to learn and improve as an organisation. This will ensure that our actions are aligned to customer support and access, and reflect our core values.
We work with our customers, the community and our partners across many office locations in Queensland. Working together under the social responsibility charter and to our strategic plan and customers first strategy, our goal is to advance and safeguard the rights, interests and wishes of Queenslanders by providing trusted and valued services.
Structured Decision-Making Framework
In line with our customer first agenda above, we are committed to having policy and processes in place that ensure we keep our customers front and centre in everything we do.
Working with La Trobe University, we have developed a framework that is part of our everyday practice to support stronger customer engagement through decision making that is founded in the views, wishes and preferences of customers, in consultation with their support networks. Our framework is based on the La Trobe Support for Decision Making Practice Framework, a leading guide when working with people with disabilities.
How the framework is used
1. Commitment
- to the person and their rights
- to the process (steps, principles and strategies)
2. Coordination
- with the support network, past records and current records
3. Reflection and review
- of Queensland Public Trustee’s policy and procedures
- the customer’s budget
- overcoming individual bias and approach.
We are committed to continuing to engage meaningfully with our customers and their support networks to make appropriate decisions by following these seven steps:
- knowing the person
- identifying the needs for a decision and describing the need
- obtaining the customer’s views, wishes and preferences
- identifying the priorities and constraints, and engaging with the support networks
- undertaking a structured process
- reaching the decision and associated decisions
- actioning and evidencing the decision.
Evaluation of our Structured-Decision Making Framework
In November 2021, La Trobe University’s Living with Disability Research Centre conducted research, on behalf of the Public Trustee, to evaluate the introduction of the Structured Decision-Making Framework into its practices.
The final report is Considering human rights in decision making: Evaluation of the introduction of structured decision-making framework in the Public Trustee of Queensland.
Raising awareness of elder abuse
The Public Trustee works with government agencies and organisations to help raise awareness of elder abuse. It is vital that, as a community, we value and protect the rights of ageing Queenslanders. For tips and what to do if you suspect elder abuse, read our useful information.
Read more in our Fact sheet: Elder abuse - Help is available
Queensland Public Trustee Investments
Queensland Public Trustee is committed to being transparent about how it invests customer funds, and the associated fees and costs of investments.
Most of the funds held on behalf of our customers, including financial management, minors trusts and enduring power of attorney matters, are administered in accordance with our Customer Investment Strategy (found in our Prudent Person Policy Framework). Under our strategy, we invest customers' funds into our Common Fund and Public Trustee Investment Trusts.
Find out more about how we invest and access our product information statements
Office of the Customer Advocate
In a national first for a state trustee, we have established an Office of the Customer Advocate. It is an important initiative to increase our transparency and accountability so that we can build trust and confidence in our services.
The team are focused on advocacy and ensuring the delivery of outcomes for our customers that are fair and align with community expectations. The Office also works with other organisations and industry as well as doing ongoing reviews of our services, policies and processes to help us strive for continuous improvement.
The Office of the Customer Advocate also provides a customer support service for customers with exceptional circumstances or those that require specialist support that cannot be managed through our usual services and processes.
You can access an easy read guide on how the Customer Advocate can help customers.
The Official Solicitor
The Official Solicitor is an important role recognised in the Public Trustee Act 1978.