On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, COTA Australia is calling for greater national coordination and support for services and programs that seek to protect at-risk older people and promote prevention of elder abuse.
“Elder abuse is unfortunately too common, and the insidious thing is that it often occurs at the hands of friends,family and carers who abuse their relationship of trust,” Chief Executive Ian Yates said today.
“This can make it difficult for the victim to report the abuse. Older people may be reluctant to dob in a family member.
“They may be in a vulnerable position with the family member who is taking advantage of them, and they are not always believed when complaining about a carer.”
The most common form of elder abuse is financial, as there is the strong incentive of personal gain involved in theft. But emotional, psychological, and not infrequently physical abuse also take their toll.
“There are different laws and different approaches to dealing with elder abuse among the states and territories,” Mr Yates said.
“However many aspects of elder abuse require a comprehensive, consistent national approach to their detection and eradication, such as financial abuse by accessing older people’s bank accounts; and the elimination of all forms of abuse from aged support and care services, for which the Federal government now has full responsibility .
“There is a real opportunity for the Federal Government to take the lead with state and territories to achieve tightening and consistency of laws across jurisdictions, especially those surrounding power of attorney, and common reporting protocols.
“With Australia’s ageing population, elder abuse is a crime that will only become more prevalent unless we act to put in place a robust, proactive and consistent strategy across Australia – and now is the time to act” Mr Yates said.
Media contact: Ian Yates 0418 835 439, Jane Garcia 0434 489 533
NOTE TO EDITORS: Ian Yates is attending the International Federation on Ageing Conference in India, 4 hours
behind AEST. He will be available on Sat 14 June for pre-records or print media interviews for Sunday, or from
12.00 noon AEST Sunday 15 June for live interview.