Taking Control: Putting Older People at the Centre of Elder Abuse Response Strategies

Abstract

Elder abuse is acknowledged to be a significant social problem in Australia, but Australia's elder abuse responses have significant limitations. These responses, as evidenced by state and territory elder abuse strategies, voice important principles and typically seek to improve the knowledge of service providers, potential victims, and the general public about elder abuse. But they tend only to identify and draw upon existing service and community care responses in their attempts to address elder abuse. This article provides a policy analysis of existing elder abuse response strategies and argues that reforms are needed to ensure that the strategies: prioritise the wishes and wellbeing of the person in question; identify and empower lead agencies; and drive collaborative responses.

Keywords:

• Elder Abuse
• Aged
• Justice

Acknowledgements

I want to thank the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia for affording me the opportunity to conduct the research listed below as Chesterman (2013a). I also wish to thank the people with whom I have had discussions about elder abuse, including Jenny Blakey, Gary Ferguson, Sue Hendy, Colleen Pearce, Phil Grano, Hannah Jones, Barbara Mountjouris, Gerard Mansour, and members of the Australian Guardianship and Administration Council. I represent the Office of the Public Advocate on the Victorian Elder Abuse Prevention and Response Advisory Group, which advised the Victorian government about the development and implementation of the Elder abuse prevention and response guidelines for action 2012–14. I am also a member of the Seniors Rights Victoria Council. The views expressed in this article are representative of the views of the Office of the Public Advocate, though these views are not necessarily shared by other members of the advisory group, the council, or the individuals named above.

Funding

This work draws on and extends some of the arguments I made in my Churchill Fellowship report (2013a), which examined adult protection practices in Victoria and a range of overseas jurisdictions.