Seniors Rights Victoria (SRV) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence (Commission).
SRV seeks to empower older Victorians so they can take steps to live in safety, with dignity and independence. SRV is the key statewide service that provides leadership across Victoria by addressing and responding to older people experiencing abuse – known as ‘elder abuse’. Elder abuse includes physical, sexual, emotional or psychological, financial or social abuse and neglect. SRV operates a Helpline, provides legal and advocacy services to victims of elder abuse and undertakes community education.
Elder abuse is family violence when it occurs within the context of a family relationship and this is commonly the case. An analysis of SRV’s Helpline data for a recent two year period showed that over 90% of alleged perpetrators were related to the older person, or in a de facto relationship, with two thirds of abuse being perpetrated by a son or daughter of the older person.
Elder abuse is not widely acknowledged by the public. Older people who seek help from SRV rarely identify themselves as victims of elder abuse or family violence. An important function of the Commission is to improve the general population’s – including older people’s – understanding of the range of unacceptable behaviours that constitute family violence. Greater understanding of elder abuse as a family violence issue will help empower older people to access help when needed. It will also help prevent the commencement or continuation of abuse by building awareness amongst family members who unwittingly commit elder abuse and increasing public shaming of those who act deliberately.
The purpose of this submission is to give voices to the many victims of elder abuse within families, to inform the Commission about what is being done both here and overseas and to suggest what more we should do in Victoria as a responsible and caring society intent on minimising violence in all its manifestations. Three real life stories of elder abuse in families are included in the submission to illustrate what elder abuse in families is and the destructive impact it has on victims’ lives.
In Victoria, SRV believes that elder abuse can be effectively combated through existing frameworks but because of the intersection between family violence and ageing, policy making around elder abuse needs to be situated in the broader discussion about ageing and creating a society that respects the rights and needs of older people. As such, the Victorian Government must continue to take a whole-of- government approach to elder abuse.
Through vision and action, the Victorian Government has established a good foundation of expertise and resources in tackling elder abuse and there is great potential to build on it