DocsTrust network
Roles in the trust network
What each role in the trust network can do, and who holds that role in practice.
This reference lists the roles in the trust network, what each role can do, and who holds the role in practice. Use it to decide who needs which role, and what that person can do with records.
Overview
A role is the part a person plays in the trust network. The role decides what the person can do and which records they can open. Roles work together with permissions and record statuses. Holding a role never grants access by itself. The beneficiary must also grant consent.
Roles
The people in the examples are the Community OS personas. Wiremu is the beneficiary. Hana is his trustee. James is his support worker. Aroha is the coordinator.
| Role | What the role can do | Who holds it in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficiary | Receives support. Owns their records. Decides who gets access by granting consent, and ends access by revoking it. | The person receiving support. In the examples, Wiremu. |
| Trustee | Acts for a beneficiary within set limits. Can work with the records in the delegation scope, only while the delegation and an active consent are in place. | A person the beneficiary trusts. In the examples, Hana. |
| Delegate | The trustee named on a delegation record. The delegate holds the authority the delegation describes. | The trustee on the delegation. In the examples, Hana. |
| Support worker | Provides support to a beneficiary. Can open the beneficiary's records only while the support arrangement is active and the beneficiary has granted consent. | The person who supports the beneficiary day to day. In the examples, James. |
| Coordinator | Sets up and manages support arrangements. Assigns a support worker to a beneficiary for a set period. | The person who organises support. In the examples, Aroha. |
| Organisation or trust admin | Runs the organisation or the trust network. Manages the people, the support arrangements, and the records of the whole organisation. | An administrator at the organisation that provides the support, such as an admin at Provider A, or a Community OS administrator. |
| Family member | A person in the beneficiary's family who helps them. A family member is not automatically a trustee. They gain access only through the same delegation and consent records as anyone else. | A member of the beneficiary's whanau who helps them, such as a parent or sibling. |
Who can open a record
Access to a record is decided by three things together: the person's role, an active relationship record, and an active consent. No role opens a record on its own.
| Record | The beneficiary (owner) | A trustee with delegation | A support worker with arrangement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support plan | Always. | Yes, while the delegation is active, in scope, and consent is active. | Yes, while the arrangement is active and consent is active. |
| Delegation | Yes. The beneficiary created it. | No. A trustee cannot change their own delegation. | No. |
| Consent grant | Yes. The beneficiary granted it. | No. Only the beneficiary decides consent. | No. |
| Support arrangement | No. The coordinator manages the arrangement. | No. | No. |
Roles are not access
Holding a role is not enough to open a record. A trustee with a delegation and a support worker with an arrangement still need an active consent from the beneficiary. Revoking the consent ends access immediately, even when the role and the relationship record stay active.