Abuse of Older People: A Community Response Russell Westacott, CEO, Seniors Rights Service

1. Abuse of Older People: A Community Response Russell Westacott,CEO, Seniors Rights Service

2. Seniors Rights Service: Who are we?

3. Brief background to Seniors Rights Service… 30-years providing quality rights-based services to older people across NSW 3,000 legal services provided/year 4,000 people/year provided aged-care advocacy – optimising people’s aged-care services 800+ rights-based community forums & events/year: >27,000 attendees Active participation in several strategic national structures

4. Recent national responses to elder abuse • 2012: Community-organised national elder abuse conference, Brisbane – 50 delegates • 2016: National inquiry into elder abuse announced by Commonwealth Attorney-General • 2016/17: Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) conducted an extensive national inquiry • June 15, 2017: Findings and recommendations handed down (WEAAD) • Feb 19-20, 2018: Seniors Rights Service hosts 5th National Australian Elder Abuse Conference, Sydney • FY 2018/19: Federal budget - Suite of new funding announcements

5. v Elder Abuse –A National Legal ResponseAustralian Law Reform Commission • Released mid-2017 • Largest public inquiry into elder abuse in Australia • Provides a platform of evidence -- multi-sector consultations

6. v Elder Abuse –A National Legal ResponseAustralian Law Reform Commission Key recommendations: • National Plan or strategy • Uniform laws across Australia • Focus on financial abuse • National prevalence study

8. What happened at the 5th National Elder Abuse Conference in Sydney, February 2018? • Two-day event; diverse program and delegation • Approx. 570 attendees • Another 500 attended range of community-focused satellite events • New Commonwealth Attorney-General announced $15 million for National Plan to tackle elder abuse in Australia • Delegates endorsed a final conference communique • Day #3 community strategy event: 70 high-level leaders across multiple sectors attended

9. 5th National Elder Abuse ConferenceTogether Making Change Key outcomes: • Terminology: Abuse of Older People • Likely prevalence in Australia ~10%; 400,000 people • General agreement that financial abuse is most common • Commitment from banking sector to reform • Final communique

10. OUR CALL TO ACTIONTO ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT • There is no excuse not to act nationally NOW against Elder Abuse. • Come together to create and fully resource the strong, effective, nationally consistent and accountable change needed to: • Create respectful cultures that value older people within our diverse country and communities (whole of community shift) to prevent an epidemic of abuse against older people • Deliver early intervention and empower older people • Support and safeguard those older persons experiencing abuse • Involve older people and all key stakeholders in developing the National Plan to address Elder Abuse, ensuring all older people experience dignity, their rights and personal well-being as a daily way of life.

11. Day #3 Community-led Strategy Event:How we got there? • We consulted with 30 high-level community leaders based on key themes that emerged from the Australian Law Reform Commission • All 570 conference delegates were given the opportunity to participate in an online survey • Both sets of research data formed the basis of bringing together a cross-section of 70 leaders from multiple sectors • Sectors included: legal; aged-care providers, public guardians; police forces; aged-care advocacy; human rights agencies; health providers

13. Purpose of Strategy Day:Gain Broad Community Consensus Based on the pre-conference research it was clear… • Community sector was galvanized around a common set of key issues • There were no significant points of diversion from the Australian Law Reform Commission’s finding from its broader public inquiry released six months earlier • Community was eager to be given a platform so that its priorities and recommendations could be delivered to governments across Australia

14. Elder Abuse:Community-led Strategiesfor ChangeDiscussion Paper

15. Community Recommendations to Government – Slide #1 • Closing conference communique was underscored and reiterated • A call to ALL governments throughout Australia to decisively act now and develop a National Plan • National Plan needs endorsement of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) • An Australian elder abuse framework of National Plan should be based on human rights principles

16. Community Recommendations to Government – Slide #2 • National consistency should be achieved regarding standardising law reform • All governments should reduce “perverse” cost shifting • Conduct a well-resourced nationwide community awareness education campaign focusing on ageism; elder abuse prevention

17. Community Recommendations to Government – Slide #3 Conduct further consultations to resolve ongoing differences: • Relationship between elder abuse and family violence • Enhancing safeguarding powers • Improve existing laws or create new laws • Degree of regulation within the banking and finance sectors • Degree of monitoring and compliance within aged-care services • Improve health/justice partners – how do we do this?

18. ABUSE OF OLDER PEOPLE:A COMMUNITY RESPONSE – FINAL REPORT • 52 organisations have endorsedthe report • Includes peak consumer groups representing diverse communities • Final report has been presented to both Commonwealth and state/territory governments • Report provides a ‘community blueprint’ to governments and policy-makers

19. ABUSE OF OLDER PEOPLE:A COMMUNITY RESPONSE – FINAL REPORT Download the report: http://seniorsrightsservice.org.au/community-response/

20. RESPONDING TO THEABUSE OF OLDER PEOPLE:WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW? Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has: • Begun initial stages of developing National Plan • Funding to conduct national prevalence study • Funded of new peak body: Elder Abuse Action Australia • $22 million extra funding for new community-based services, January 1: • Elder abuse units in community legal centres across Australia • Health/justice partnership models • Mediation services

21. RESPONDING TO THEABUSE OF OLDER PEOPLE:WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW? Commonwealth Department of Health has: • Recently increased funding to aged-care advocacy services • Provided additional funding for these advocacy services to better respond to the abuse of older people • Ensured that aged-care advocacy services in each state/territory now have greater flexibility to support older people who are victims of abuse regardless of whether they are aged-care recipients or not

22. RESPONDING TO THEABUSE OF OLDER PEOPLE:WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW? What’s happening in various states and territories? • Each state has/is developing their own strategy groups in preparation to feed into the National Plan • State and territory Attorneys-General have commenced dialogue regarding law reform across Australia to ensure uniformity • Due to national leadership some jurisdictions are committing less funding to elder abuse responses

23. OUR CALL TO ACTIONTO ALL GOVERNMENTS IN AUSTRALIA • There is no excuse not to act nationally NOW against Elder Abuse. • Come together to create and fully resource the strong, effective, nationally consistent and accountable change needed to: • Create respectful cultures that value older people within our diverse country and communities (a whole of community shift) to prevent an epidemic of abuse against older people • Deliver early intervention and empower older people • Support and safeguard those older persons experiencing abuse. • Involve older people and all the key stakeholders in developing the National Plan to address Elder Abuse to ensure all older people experience dignity, their rights and personal well-being as a daily way of life.

24. Thank you And thanks to our key sponsors:

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