Elderly abuse: NSW Government warned against delays to exploitation safeguards
Updated
There are concerns that exploitation and abuse of older people is being allowed to flourish in NSW because the state is delaying introducing safeguards to protect the rights of the elderly.
Key points:
- Advocates in NSW are pushing for tougher laws to prevent the financial abuse of elderly people
- Specifically, they want the Power of Attorney Act strengthened
- The NSW Government says it's committed to preventing elder abuse
Seniors rights advocates are urging the State Government to act quickly to introduce law reforms that would prevent the financial exploitation of older people and allow the appointment of a public advocate with wide powers of investigation.
The majority of elder abuse tends to encompass some form of financial abuse, and there is concern that NSW is lagging behind other states in reforming its laws that relate to enduring powers of attorney.
An older person may sign a power of attorney as a measure that helps them manage their affairs when they are unable to do it alone.
The document allows another person to act on behalf of an older person and make legal decisions for them.
Older people who are financially exploited are often unable to recover funds after misuse of a power of attorney, according to the Seniors Rights Service.
"We do need to have the Power of Attorney Act strengthened," the service's chief executive Russell Westacott said.
"At the moment we have a situation where we have hundreds of thousands of people who are in fact power of attorney for an older person or somebody else, and we don't provide information and education to the power of attorney."
Advocates fear changes being put on hold
Victoria introduced new laws that govern powers of attorney two years ago and the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has suggested a range of measures that would provide greater accountability and safeguards when older people are signing over their rights.
The ALRC is conducting an inquiry into elder abuse at the same time as the Federal Government continues the work of a national working group on the issue.
The NSW Government conducted its own parliamentary committee inquiry on elder abuse in the state.
Two of the key recommendations of that inquiry related to the introduction of a public advocate with wide powers of investigation and the reform to the power of attorney laws.
But the NSW Government has not immediately moved to take up those recommendations.
A spokesperson for the department of Families and Community Services said the two recommendations were "underway".
A NSW Law Reform Commission review into the state's Guardianship Act is taking place that would consider the need for a public advocate, and government would "consider the findings" of the ALRC review once it is complete, before deciding on reforms to powers of attorney.
Mr Westacott said he was concerned that momentum on the issue may be lost. He said it was not necessary to wait until the reviews were complete.
"It's great that the parliamentary inquiry has happened, it's great that there's a response from Government, and it would be fantastic to see the recommendations from the response actually take shape," he said.
"We hope that the NSW Government doesn't put too many things on hold to see what the Commonwealth will be moving on."
Many in the sector wanted to see the introduction of a public advocate with powers of investigation similar to that of Victoria's Office of the Public Advocate.
Vulnerable older people who have experienced hardship believe a public advocate would provide a vital service in NSW.
State committed to fight against elder abuse
The NSW Government said it had reaffirmed its commitment to preventing elder abuse in the state, which is estimated to affect as many as 60,000 older people.
It recently tabled its response to the recommendations to the elder abuse inquiry, which included these commitments:
- The NSW Government provide $600,000 per year in funding to its elder abuse hotline for two more years from July 2017
- It will continue to fund community justice centres and community support programs
- It expanded training programs to help service providers respond to and prevent elder abuse
- The Government has not committed to introducing a public advocate in NSW
- It did not commit to law changes to better safeguard the financial rights of older people who sign over control of their affairs under powers of attorney
Demand for elder abuse hotline increasing
The NSW Elder Abuse helpline provides information, support and referrals relating to the abuse of older people living in the community, as well as supporting those who are concerned about an older person.
The Government has also committed to continuing a range of programs to help prevent elder abuse, extending its training to service providers to help identify the problem.
NSW Elder Abuse Helpline and Resource Unit manager Kerry Marshall said the service is receiving up to 180 calls each month, and the number of calls is increasing.
"Elder abuse is extremely damaging for older people, in fact they're twice as likely to be hospitalised as their peers," she said.
"And it's really hard for them to seek help. They often fear retribution, they're often dependent on the person that's abusing them that prevents them from speaking up.
"But day one here, our phones were ringing," Ms Marshall said.
"The demand has increased month by month.
"As a helpline, we can listen to the person's issues holistically, find out everything that's going on for them, and we can give information, support and referrals based on all the different issues that they have."
Topics: older-people, health, aged-care, community-and-society, health-policy, government-and-politics, sydney-2000, nsw, australia
First posted
