TRANSCRIPT:
Australia's population is ageing.
Sixteen percent, or one in six Australians, are aged 65 or over - and over half of that group are women.
But there is mounting evidence that many older people are being abused.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has told the National Elder Abuse Conference in Adelaide that the rising incidence of elder abuse is "deeply troubling".
"Abuse of older people is a shameful and often hidden form of cruelty and mistreatment. In addition to physical abuse elder abuse can involve psychological or emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. It is ugly. It is unacceptable and it must be eliminated. It can be caused by deliberate or unintentional acts, be subtle or patterned and may manifest as coercive control."
Research released in 2021 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that almost one in six older Australians have reported an experience of abuse.
The government says those findings are to be likely conservative, because the research did not capture people with cognitive decline or those in residential aged care.
In addition, of the more than 3000 reports made to the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission between 2022 and 2023, the subject of the allegation in over half ((51.4 percent)) of those instances were the person’s adult children.
This was followed by the person's current spouse or partner.
Similarly, last year, Victoria Police said the force received more than 5700 reports in the year to March of elder abuse incidents, an increase of more than 40 per cent over the past five years.
Patricia Sparrow is the CEO of the Council of the Ageing Australia.
She says elder abuse can involve physical, psychological, sexual and emotional mistreatment as well as financial abuse and neglect.
"People often feel powerless...so it's quite complicated particularly where you have a relationship where you're reliant on someone, it can be quite difficult for people to report and obviously people are often embarrassed or may not think there's anything wrong with what's happening and that's why this kind of awareness campaign is really important."
She says more needs to be done, particularly reform of power of attorney laws.
"At the moment there's different power of attorney laws in every state...And we think it's important that we harmonise that legislation across the country but also that we put in additional protections so that if someone does have a problem and they've been abused, that they can revoke the power of attorney - which they can do, but at the moment it's not recorded anywhere. So we think there needs to be a national register so that if it has been revoked, you can't continue to say that you're a power of attorney and there's a place to go and check that."
The government is in agreement on the need for more education.
Mark Dreyfus says we need better information on the scope of elder abuse across Australia.
"The Australian government is supporting a number of new research projects including a two year dedicated elder abuse perpetrator research stream with the Australian Institute of Criminology... Monash University will seperately conduct research on the abuse of older people in rural, regional and remote areas. Outcomes from these studies will provide the evidence we need to pursue dedicated prevention and intervention efforts for these priority population groups under the second National Plan."
The government is also launching a $4.8 million awareness campaign.
It will include television advertisements, online video content, digital screen placements in medical centres and new information resources for the community.
The ad campaign will be aimed at helping older Australians open up about concerns.
Ms Sparrow says it's an important step, because the 2021 National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study found that about 60 per cent of those who were harmed through elder abuse did not seek help.
"It's really important for two reasons. One, so that the community gets a better understanding that this does happen and we need to be looking out for older Australians and making sure that they are protected when it happens. But also for older Australians, it's often someone they know or a family member, it's very difficult for them to want to report and I think they need to know that they are places they can go to get support."
Assistant Energy Minister Jenny McAllister has backed the campaign.
She's told Sky News the rates of elder abuse in the community are upsetting - but help is available.
"If you’re feeling a little uncertain, if you think something is wrong and you’re an older Australian, you should speak up about it. Speak to your friends and family about it. You might want to call 1800 Elder Help, which is the hotline that’s in place. Or of course if it’s an emergency you should call triple zero.”
To report concerns of abuse, neglect and exploitation of older people and adults with disability in their family, home or community, contact the NSW Ageing and Disability Abuse Helpline on 1800 628 221.
