Sunday 15 June marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a poignant reminder of the seriousness of this issue. Some 15 per cent of older people in Australia aged 65 and over are abused, and a new Policy Paper has sounded the alarm on a stark lack of support services for them.
Relationships Australia NSW (RANSW) has released a Policy Paper detailing 29 recommendations to drive abuse down and increase services to older people who suffer from it.
RANSW CEO Elisabeth Shaw said the current system is insufficient to protect older people and the NSW Government needs a strong response to the scale of the problem.
"Older people deserve dignity and safety, not abuse and neglect," Ms Shaw said.
"NSW has an ageing population and an increase in the incidence of psychological, financial, physical and other forms of harm of older people. One in two perpetrators will be a family member.
"We need the abuse to stop, and we need to increase the accessibility of services for thousands of older people in this state who have found themselves in this situation.
"As service providers working on the front-line, we know that the situation is dire, and our experience together with the statistics show that the situation will likely get worse. It is incredibly hard for older people to disclose harm at the hands of a family member. Organisations such as ours are well placed to assist them.
"Help-seeking is deterred or delayed by misconceptions that legal options are the only options to address abuse. Research has consistently shown that older adults experiencing harm prefer relational approaches.
"We eagerly await the new National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2024-2034, and recognise that each State Government also plays a role in providing for its own communities.
"Currently the service system suffers from funding insecurity that creates a 'postcode lottery' – meaning where you live greatly influences your chances of accessing support. Our own state funding ends August 2025.
"That's why we have drafted a Position Paper which puts forward a set of 29 practical recommendations for the NSW Government to implement between now and 2030."
The Policy Paper was drafted with the input of nine organisations that work in the sector: Carers NSW; Council on the Ageing; Health Justice Australia; Justice Connect; Elder Abuse Service; Legal Aid NSW; Elder Mediation International Network; NSW Ageing and Disability Commission; Relationships Australia (National, NSW and Canberra & Region organisations) and Senior Rights Service.
Some of the recommendations from the Position Paper include that the NSW Government should:
- Maintain and expand regional and place-based approaches, such as through regional "hubs", to address postcode injustice.
- Introduce a module on identification and response to the abuse of older people into the NSW Police Academy training program.
- Re-fund the Aged Crime Prevention Officer roles in the NSW Police, or identify alternative routes to ensure violence-informed and age-informed approaches at the first point of contact for the criminal legal system.
- Harmonise Enduring Power of Attorney laws and create a NSW Register of appointments.
- Legislate mandatory training and funding to support Attorneys or Guardians appointed under an Appointment of Power of Attorney / Enduring Power of Attorney of Appointment of Enduring Guardian.
- Explore the potential to mandate Elder Mediation for ageing-related family conflicts, in line with existing mandated mediation requirements for separating parents.
- At the review date of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Act 2022 in July 2026, consider the opportunity to criminalise coercive and controlling behaviour by family members other than an intimate partner.
- Fund services for periods of at least five years, to improve providers' ability to attract, develop and retain experienced employees in critical front-line roles.
Ms Shaw noted that the NSW Government has supported RANSW's elder abuse mediation and counselling program Let's Talk for 7 years, and this remains a uniquely valuable, if small, service in the state. Its funding is currently under review.
"In order to properly drive down the rates of elder abuse in our state, we need longer-term funding across the entire state to meet the growing needs of our program," Ms Shaw said.
In the last two years alone, RANSW has supported 328 clients and delivered more than 1,180 sessions through its Let's Talk program.
The Policy Paper
