GOVERNMENT CANNOT CONTINUE TO DELAY ACTION ON ELDER ABUSE

On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) Labor reaffirms our commitment to the rights of older people to live with dignity, free from all forms of abuse.

 

Labor calls on the Turnbull Government to do more to progress its response to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) report into elder abuse, released more than a year ago.

 

The Turnbull Government has had the ALRC report since June 2017 and progress on implementing the recommendations has been too slow.

 

Ensuring that older Australians are protected and are given the opportunity to live dignified, good lives is too important to be subject to delays.

 

The World Health Organisation has reported prevalence rates of elder abuse of up to 10 per cent of older people.

 

Devastatingly, elder abuse appears to continue to be primarily perpetrated by family members. As a society we must do everything we can to protect older Australians.

 

Labor is committed to combatting elder abuse in all its forms.  

 

In the context of an ageing population in Australia, a failure to tackle elder abuse will have a devastating impact on the future of our country.

 

The mistreatment of older Australians is simply not acceptable and Labor stands ready to work with governments at all levels to stamp out elder abuse.