Behind Closed Doors Elder Abuse in Western Australia

Transcription

1 Behind Closed Doors Elder Abuse in Western Australia WA Labor s discussion paper on elder abuse November 2011

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Advocare Inc. along with the Crime Research Centre at the University of Western Australia commissioned a study in April this year, which found that as many as 12,500, or 4.6 per cent of elderly people in Western Australia will be abused this year. Alarmingly, the report also warns that the number of older people abused in the State will double in the next 20 years if nothing is done. 1 It is however hard to be certain how big the problem of elder abuse is in Western Australia as there is no uniformity in the way statistics are gathered. Given the gaps in current knowledge and the shame associated with reporting elder abuse it is generally noted that elder abuse is 30 years behind domestic violence and child abuse research, intervention and policy. However, practitioners and policy makers agree that elder abuse is a very real issue that needs to be addressed by government as Australia s population ages. Elder abuse can be described as some form of harm against an older person and research shows it is generally committed by a family member or someone in a close relationship of trust. The most frequent form of abuse is financial (generally related to the family seeking to transfer financial or real property). There is another growing phenomenon affecting the elderly where the perpetrator is unknown to the victim and will, by cold canvassing either door to door, on the phone or over the internet, dupe an unsuspecting victim into paying exorbitant amounts of money for a faulty product or service. Elder abuse can be described as some form of harm against an older person and research shows it is generally committed by a family member Elderly people may also fall victim to someone convincing them to sell their share portfolio at an undervalued price or invest in non-existent get rich quick schemes. This is not what the research generally refers to as elder abuse, but rather as a form of consumer fraud which elderly people may be more susceptible to. However, this form of fraud is on the rise and at times of economic hardship or when diminished decision making as a result of dementia is at play, the elderly are at a higher risk of this kind of fraudulent conduct. Financial/material abuse is the most commonly reported form of elder abuse, however elder abuse can also be emotional/psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse and social abuse including intentional or unintentional neglect. Commonly, older people experience multiple types of abuse at the same time. Advocare research showed 84 per cent of people experiencing financial abuse also experienced psychological abuse. 2 Elder abuse is an issue of growing concern as Australia s population is projected to grow and age over the next 40 years. From 2010 to 2050 it is estimated the proportion of the population aged 65 and over will nearly double to a quarter of the population. 3 It is therefore a challenge for government and welfare agencies to ensure there are adequate resources available to respond to elder abuse effectively. Page 2

3 Western Australians are also facing considerable increases to the cost of living which is making seniors more susceptible to abuse. Since 2008, water prices have increased by 45 per cent, electricity has increased by 57 per cent and gas by more than 40 per cent, 6 which is putting financial pressure on elderly Western Australians. Many seniors who have left the workforce are on a fixed income, either by way of a pension or through their superannuation portfolios, therefore the financial pressure to raise short-term cash by selling off part of their portfolios, their desire for a quick bargain or to save living costs by moving in with adult children, may make them more vulnerable to elder abuse. This paper outlines the significance of bringing elder abuse out from behind closed doors, considers whether current government strategies are adequate, investigates the challenges around policing elder abuse by frontline officers and outlines policy initiatives for elder abuse policy that includes a public education campaign to bring the issue to the forefront of policy decisions and help remove the shame associated with reporting elder abuse. INTRODUCTION Elder abuse is any act occurring within an informal relationship of trust causing harm to an older person. The form of this abuse may be financial, psychological, social, neglect, emotional, physical or sexual. Just as family and domestic violence was hidden and under reported up until the 1970s, elder abuse is subject to the same kind of shame because it most commonly involves breaches of trust within families and with those closest to the victims. For many victims, to report their perpetrator is most often to report their own child and to then risk further abuse if they are reliant on that adult child for ongoing care and support. In March 2008 a Curtin University of Technology and Office of the Public Advocate research paper The human rights of older people and agency responses to elder abuse found that while Page 3

4 prevalence studies estimated that only between 1 per cent and 5 per cent of elderly people were at risk of elder abuse, some of those interviewed believed the real figure may be as high as 15 per cent or more if you include unreported cases. 4 In 2007 the Australian Parliament s House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs released its report Older People and the Law. The Committee received evidence from a broad range of stakeholder organisations and governments including the Alliance for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (APEA) WA, the Office of the Public Advocate of WA, the WA Government, National Seniors and the Council of the Ageing (COTA). The report found that:..statistics on fraud and financial abuse of the elderly are difficult to obtain, but studies suggest that approximately 3-7 per cent of older people over the age of 65 will experience abuse from someone with whom they have a relationship of trust, with financial abuse identified as the fastest growing type of abuse. It is common that, where abuse is occurring, multiple types of abuse occur at the same time. Advocare research shows the type of abuse that occurs most frequently is financial, followed by psychological abuse, physical and unclassified abuse. The main perpetrators of the abuse are adult children and the vast majority of people that experienced elder abuse lived in their own home (90 per cent). In 31 per cent of cases the alleged perpetrator lived in the older person s home. It is also more frequent that the victims of elder abuse are female. There is a form of consumer fraud perpetrated on older people by people unknown to the victims. The Advocare report found that fraud and theft by people not in a relationship of trust to the older person are not usually considered to be financial elder abuse, and are rather considered as criminal activity, 1 (Lowndes et al 2009), however this too is on the rise. the prevalence of elder abuse in WA could be occurring to anywhere between 3,000 and 23,500 people. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show the percentage of Western Australia s population aged 65 years and over was per cent as at June 30, 2010 and that as a proportion of the total population, the number of people aged 65 and over will continue to grow as the numbers under 15 years of age decreases. The research reports the prevalence of elder abuse as occurring to between 1 per cent and 7 per cent of the population over 65 years of age. Based on the ABS numbers of Western Australians aged over 65, the prevalence of elder abuse in WA could be occurring to anywhere between 3000 and 23,500 people. While the number of people living longer continues to grow, so does the number with diminished capacity and other related illnesses. According to Alzheimer s Association WA there are more than 24,000 people diagnosed with dementia in WA with more than 130 new cases every week. 5 Page 4

5 The increasing prevalence of dementia continues to be a significant part of Western Australia s ageing population. Of the 896 new matters referred to the Public Advocate for investigation in , 41.5 per cent involved a person with dementia and of the 224 new guardianship appointments, 44 per cent involved a person with dementia. 6 Furthermore the vulnerability of a person with dementia is considerable as they generally have to rely on a family member to look after them and their finances and therefore may be more susceptible to elder abuse. As elder abuse generally takes place behind closed doors and the perpetrators are generally family members, there is a large degree of shame about reporting the abuse. There is a strong case for government to educate the community about elder abuse so it is no longer a silent issue. LABOR S VISION Breaking down elder abuse in Western Australia can only happen when we raise community understanding of what elder abuse is. For both potential victims and perpetrators, this will draw attention to the agencies and services available to stop it occurring and also catch out and hold to account those who would otherwise hide behind the veil of shame to abuse their family member or trusted confidant. A focus and public conversation about how to recognise the signs of potential elder abuse will remove some of the stigma of reporting the incidents, the same way public debate about family and domestic violence did. What is most alarming about elder abuse is that it is often unreported and the real number of older Western Australians who have suffered elder abuse is unknown. Labor believes a community awareness campaign needs to be established to address the shame associated with elder abuse.. Labor believes a community awareness campaign needs to be established to address the shame associated with elder abuse and to educate all Western Australians about what avenues they can take if they suspect someone is being abused. Specialised formal training for WA police is also necessary so they can identify and investigate the complex nature of issues corresponding to elder abuse. The 2008 research paper The human rights of older people and agency responses to elder abuse, 7 highlighted the elder abuse service gaps in Western Australia, three years later there are still significant gaps in services available to victims of elder abuse. Currently there is no one single government agency providing leadership and driving government responses to elder abuse. Between the Offices of the Public Advocate, the Department for Communities, the WA Police, and the Office of the Public Trustee Page 5

6 there are some services, some resource material, some public education roles and some remedies. Add to those government agencies the roles of the non-government agencies Advocare and the Older People s Rights Services and Western Australia has a patchwork of points of entry for those seeking advice and advocacy on the issue of elder abuse. For those living outside the Perth metropolitan area, there is very limited access to face to face services. Western Australia is currently benefiting from a resources boom and is the recipient of billions of dollars in royalty payments. Western Australia s economy is projected to grow by more than 16 per cent within the next four years with the State Government recording a general operating surplus of $1.6billion for In its quarterly snapshot of the State s finances the State s peak business organisation, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, although consumer confidence was low, 2011 saw WA s economy gain strength and the price for the state s key commodities skyrocket. 8 Western Australia s strong economic position makes now the time to invest in programs to ensure our most vulnerable seniors are protected. Now is the time to share the benefits of the boom. Between 2000 when Advocare first began and now, Western Australia has done well in relation to elder abuse but at a time when the Barnett Government is imposing higher than ever living costs, it must be vigilant and improve services for older Western Australians, particularly those most at risk of what is a hidden and little understood form of abuse. CURRENT SITUATION The most recent piece of work on elder abuse in WA titled Examination of the extent of Elder Abuse in Western Australia, was commissioned by Advocare in April What this report found was that in those cases handled by Advocare between 2004 and 2010 the most frequent type of abuse in order of frequency encountered was: Financial abuse Psychological abuse Physical Neglect Social Sexual Unknown Page 6

7 Women were the most likely to be victims in those cases before Advocare in that same period. Currently Western Australia has various agencies that operate to respond to elder abuse. Advocare is a well respected non-government organisation providing leadership, direct advocacy services and commissioning research into elder abuse for more than 10 years. In 2007 Advocare and the Northern Suburbs Community Legal Service collaborated to create the Older People s Rights Service (OPRS), a legal service for older people experiencing elder abuse. Both these organisations serve WA well. Many of the forms of elder abuse are in fact criminal matters whether it is a matter of financial fraud or physical abuse or neglect. However police have a much wider level of responsibility than just elder abuse. Within government, the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) assists all Western Australian adults with decision-making disabilities, including investigating formal allegations of elder abuse. However, the OPA has limited powers to compel people to provide information during its investigations of alleged elder abuse and this is a problem that has to be amended. The WA Police are very often the first port of call for victims experiencing some kind of abuse, including elder abuse, and for people seeking to assist those they suspect may be victims. Many of the forms of elder abuse are in fact criminal matters whether it is a matter of financial fraud or physical abuse or neglect. However police have a much wider level of responsibility than just elder abuse. The Office of the Public Trustee provides advice and information services about asset management, Enduring Powers of Attorney and wills. The Trustee can act as administrator for someone the courts have decided is no longer able to manage their own financial matters. The Department for Communities has information available online and through its community speaker s service on elder abuse and on family agreements. The former Office of Seniors has either in its own right or in partnership commissioned much research on elder abuse over the years. All of these organisations and more are members of the Alliance for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (APEA) WA, established in 2005 to promote across government and nongovernment policy and practices. Page 7

8 WA POLICE WA Police have a pivotal role to play in the investigation and protection of elderly Western Australians, extending from frontline officers through to the administrative departments. Currently there is some training for new police recruits as a part of their course at the WA Police Academy. While Advocare has been active in providing training to police recruits, providing Eight training sessions to new recruits in period and two in the financial years, 9 more training is needed. Police training should also extend to all levels of the police force and include specialised and enhanced training for detectives in the fraud squad, given that WA Police have primacy over the prosecution of perpetrators of elder abuse and are often the first point of call in an emergency involving an older Western Australian. There are significant obstacles in relation to the prosecution of elder abuse. Statistics indicate there is a 23 per cent increase in burglaries, theft and damage against people aged over 65 in the community. 10 These figures offer a small snapshot of this hidden epidemic in our community, which makes it exceptionally difficult to examine the extent of some forms of elder abuse and police effectively. The reduction in the operational capacity of the WA Police in the past year also puts frontline officers under increasing pressure with little resources left to target and investigate elder abuse, which is outside their core business of frontline policing. This leaves our most vulnerable in the community feeling alone and isolated if they fall victim to a crime. As elder abuse spans multiple categories of crime including theft, burglary, neglect, financial abuse, fraud and domestic violence, there is no easy way to qualify data which results in police investigation of elder abuse. In essence, the classification of crime statistics released on the WA Police website means it is almost impossible to ascertain the extent of elder abuse in the community. Incidents that take place in a domestic environment are treated in the same way as domestic violence and recorded accordingly. Page 8

9 GUARDIANSHIP Addressing the gap in formal policies and procedures under the overarching Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 in which formal agreements for an Enduring Power of Attorney and Enduring Power of Guardianship are made, is a matter of priority. In recent months, there have been a number of cases whereby the transfer of land has taken place without the property owner s consent. A recent newspaper article in the Fremantle Herald reports that Western Australia s primary registration body, Landgate, transfers up to 300,000 land titles each year and is aware of nine cases whereby an elderly parent was defrauded and the title of their home transferred. 11 Given that elder abuse is significantly under reported, there is a requirement for more comprehensive procedural checks and balances extending to the transfer of land by an Enduring Power of Attorney. It may be prudent to investigate the effectiveness of the Queensland model which incorporates an Elder Abuse Prevention Unit, established under the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 to prevent and assist people to respond to complaints of elder abuse in the community. CASE STUDIES Case Study One: Misuse of Enduring Power of Attorney Following a referral by Advocare, the OPRS was contacted by an elderly woman who had concerns with the management of her finances by her EPA (who was her step-daughter). The client was in a nursing home and was financially and emotionally dependent on her step-daughter. She claimed she was incurring verbal and psychological abuse from her step-daughter and she suspected she was being financially exploited. The familial relationship between the client and her EPA resulted in the client being hesitant to pursue the matter legally. This highlights how emotional dependence can hinder accountability in cases of elder abuse. During the investigation it become clear that large sums of the client s money was unaccounted for and the majority of the financial discrepancies were unauthorised withdrawals from ATMs at a casino of which the client had no knowledge. 12 A criminal prosecution was undertaken and the perpetrator was prosecuted in the WA District Court. While a conviction was recorded, only a small amount of the victim s stolen money was recovered and the elderly client had endured years of financial and emotional abuse at the hands of her step-daughter. Another unfortunate aspect of this case was that the client died before the perpetrator pleaded guilty and spent her last remaining years in emotional turmoil while incurring serious financial abuse. Page 9

10 Case Study Two: Family Agreement The OPRS was involved with a case of an elderly couple who had entered into a verbal Family Agreement with their daughter. The elderly clients agreed they would move in with their daughter and share expenses and co-ownership. Under pressure from their daughter, the clients sold their home entrusting the entire proceeds of the sale to her management. After years of enduring emotional and psychological abuse the clients found themselves removed from their home with their entire life savings effectively stolen by their daughter. 13 Case Study Three: Identity theft An article by the Fremantle Herald reported Landgate, Western Australia s land registration body, believed identity theft was one of the fastest growing crimes in Australia. 14 In many cases identity fraud involves family members who prey on elderly parents. In one case a 40-year-old son fleeced his sick parents by convincing them to transfer part of the title on their home to help him complete construction of an investment property. He then transferred the entire property into his own name and subsequently went bankrupt leaving his parents to face the music. In another case a man entrusted his son to complete the legal paperwork on his property to jointly register his parents and his son s name on the title, however his son put himself on the title and defaulted on the mortgage payments. These cases give an insight into the gaps that currently exist within Western Australian legislation and how older Western Australians can be vulnerable. IDENTIFIED GAPS IN SERVICE PROVISION There are many gaps in the services provided for people experiencing elder abuse in Western Australia. There are no advocacy groups or services in regional Western Australia and there is also a lack of specialist counselling, legal and support services for people experiencing elder abuse. OPRS provides legal advice, but this service is limited to two fulltime staff and only operates in the metropolitan area. This year alone they dealt with 121 clients with cases of elder abuse with the overwhelming majority consisting of financial/property related abuses. Of these cases an estimated 70 to 80 per cent involve Family Agreements and in many situations they witnessed older people losing their family home and/ or life savings. Of the remaining 20 to 30 per cent of Page 10

11 elder abuse cases, the majority generally involve Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) or more accurately- the misuse of EPAs. 15 OPRS said the lack of uniformity across Australia of laws concerning these issues, combined with the lack of transparency and means to redress their abuses highlights an unflattering deficiency in our modern legal system. 16 A lack of any national (or state) registry of EPAs is also a problem that exacerbates elder abuse and an inconsistent approach to assessing the mental capacity of older Western Australians before they sign EPAs. Family Agreements are also a concern as, there is virtually no appropriate legislative regulation scheme or accessible means of acquiring redress in cases of abuse, which results in significant injustices for elderly victims. 17 An alternative mediation service for elder abuse victims would make sense. Currently the only remedies available are prosecution through the courts. This is a very costly exercise, reliant on appropriately strict laws of evidence and the matters are conducted publicly. Given the majority of elder abuse is related to financial and property matters within families, it is understandable that the victims would do everything to avoid the public exposure of their family dysfunction. There is also a perceived gap when a person with decision making capacity is experiencing elder abuse but does not want to take any action. Australia does not have legislation to enforce mandatory reporting of elder abuse. The report The human rights of older people and agency responses to elder abuse said many research participants spoke about incidents they had come across where a client was, An alternative mediation service for elder abuse victims would make sense. Currently the only remedies available are prosecution through the courts. obviously being abused but was unwilling to take action either out of fear of the person abusing them, or because they were afraid of losing contact with the rest of their family, if the abuser was a family member. 18 This presents an interesting ethical dilemma for practitioners when it is clear and even acknowledged by the victim that they are being abused but they exercise their right as adults to refuse to either formally report it or to take any action which might end it. In 2005 an OPA report investigating elder abuse in Aboriginal communities concluded that it is clear that certain groups of people within families require the need for increased safety. Elder abuse and the risk of abuse perpetrated against older people within Aboriginal communities, has therefore been raised as a real concern. 19 The report recommended a whole government approach in partnership with Aboriginal communities is required to address elder abuse. Page 11

12 In 2006 the OPA did similar work in respect to elder abuse in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities in Western Australia. That report, Care and Respect Project to Research Elder Abuse in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities noted that given almost 20% of seniors in Western Australia come from CALD backgrounds 20, there was a need to ensure any extension of services to meet their needs was culturally appropriate, that interpreter services were available and that a lead government agency needed to be identified. BARNETT GOVERNMENT POSITION The Barnett Government has been silent on the issue of elder abuse. Between the government agencies there is a patchwork of information services, research and investigatory and prosecutorial avenues available to people. However, there is not one single easily identifiable point of entry for people and there is no broader education campaign to inform older Western Australians of the support services available if they are the victims or potential victims of abuse. Furthermore in June this year, the Minister for Seniors showed a complete failure to understand the issue of elder abuse. In Parliament when asked about the Government s response to the recent Advocare Report the Minister said she would, often wonder why people think that just because someone is older, they are not as vicious as they were when they were younger. It seems that people do not really give much thought to a person who is elderly being psychologically vicious when they cannot be as physically vicious. In fact, some of them are quite vicious physically. 21 In the media debate that followed, the Minister made it clear that her understanding of elder abuse was different to that of all of the research published to date, which shows the most common form of elder abuse is financial abuse perpetrated by an adult child on their elderly parent. It is therefore not surprising there has been no significant government initiatives in the area. At a time when more Western Australians than ever before are under financial pressure from rising household bills, it follows that the risk of financial elder abuse is on the increase. Now more than ever is the time for government to be pulling relevant resources together and filling the gaps identified in the 2008 report and the more recent 2011 Advocare report. Now more than ever is the time for government to be pulling relevant resources together and filling the gaps identified in the 2008 report and the more recent 2011 Advocare report. Page 12

13 OPTIONS FOR ACTION Community education campaign In the early to mid 2000 s with the establishment and funding of Advocare and more recently the Older Persons Rights Services, WA led the nation in services to assist those who are victims. All the members of the APEA, government and non-government sector have done some awareness raising over the years but the time has come for a much more proactive community education campaign to shine a light on this scourge. More recently though, the Barnett Government has not taken the opportunities presented by the resources boom to build on the good work begun back then. A public education campaign could include television and newspaper coverage and brochures of agency and referral information. The Queensland Government has launched an act as one campaign which has been successful in gathering community support to bring elder abuse out from behind closed doors. 22 Stakeholder education campaign The Office of the Public Advocate could enhance that campaign with specific workshops to educate stakeholders including banks and front line practitioners involved directly and indirectly in monitoring elder abuse concerns. The training program could educate service provider agencies about types of elder abuse and encourage stakeholders to develop polices, practices and regulatory measures to reduce the risk and incidence of financial abuse. The Advocare report recommends banks adopt an alert system to indentify suspicious transactions, as well as better arrangements to ensure the currency of third party signing rights. 23 Government also needs to work with the major banks to design and implement an integrated strategy to address the risk of financial abuse and fraud that victimises older people. Elder abuse resource guide A comprehensive elder abuse resource guide and elder abuse referral guide could be developed as a guide for service providers and professionals. A dedicated 1800 number could also be adopted to provide information and refer older Western Australians to appropriate agencies if they are the victims of elder abuse. WA could also adopt an integrated approach to the resource guide similar to the Victorian Police s you are not alone campaign, aimed at breaking down barriers between the WA Police Service, seniors and referral agencies. Page 13

14 Identify a lead agency Within government there needs to be a clear policy leader and driver in the area of elder abuse. Whether that is the Office of Public Advocate or the Department for Communities is open for debate but currently neither is resourced to take the lead as have agencies in both Queensland and Victoria. An example of an operational department within government is the Queensland Government s Elder Abuse Prevention Unit which provides information, confidential advice and referrals to legal services and offers a specialised support service for victims of elder abuse. More power to the Office of the Public Advocate The Office of the Public Advocate is limited in its ability to compel people to give evidence when investigating allegations of elder abuse. It would be beneficial if the office is given more scope to handle elder abuse cases. Electronic inter-agency database An inter-agency database for agencies that deal with elder abuse could be appropriate. An electronic database would store information and the accessibility of the database would help practitioners identify vulnerable and at risk people. This information would be used to drive a risk-assessment process. However, confidentiality and privacy issues will need to be addressed if a database is to be established. Funding for legal services Expanding the specialist legal services available to deal with elder abuse needs to occur as a consequence of greater awareness raising of the issue. Programs for rural and remote Western Australians For victims of elder abuse who want advice and assistance or those who wish to report their suspicions of elder abuse and who live outside metropolitan Perth or anywhere in regional WA, there are no specialist services. Existing specialist legal and advocacy services need to be adequately resourced to provide regular outreach and telephone advisory services beyond the metropolitan area. These services also need to extend to Aboriginal communities. Page 14

15 Dispute resolution The nature of elder abuse is that it very often occurs within families and the victims are loathe to take public action through the courts against members of their own families. Alternative family mediation services is one way to bring families together to resolve the conflict without the high, and often prohibitive costs of court action, and without the public glare that courts can bring. Legal Aid currently has a program that offers mediation through a Family Dispute Resolution Centre. This could be expanded so elder abuse victims can access a service which allows them an advocate present while going through the mediation process. A Register for the Enduring Powers of Attorney with an auditing process Currently Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) are not registered. The Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 could be amended to include a provision which ensures an EPA is registered. A national register would deter people from abusing EPAs and random auditing of EPA could also be done and would ensure more compliance, and less abuse of the system. Some form of random auditing of registered EPAs, either by police or a government agency like the Office of the Public Advocate or the Office of the Public Trustee could also act as a deterrent for those who would use an EPA as a means to perpetrate elder abuse. Elder Justice Act Currently there is no definitive act that protects the autonomy of our most vulnerable seniors in the community. There is the Age Discrimination Act which offers some protection for older Western Australians but goes little way to ensuring this. In addition, there are numerous acts in which elder abuse can be prosecuted under the current legal system thus presenting issues with the trial of perpetrators of elder abuse. Models of international legislation have enacted such Seniors Acts to protect the independence of seniors. Financial Legislation (Australian Bankers Association) Currently there are no binding regulations which specify any internal checks and balances regarding multiple smaller transactions on an individual s account. A red flag is more likely to be raised with transactions over $10,000 (needs to be reported to AUSTRAC) but this is not necessarily the case in cases of elder abuse given that it is more likely to occur in smaller amounts. Therefore financial abuse is at a greater risk of going unnoticed, Page 15

16 specifically if the perpetrator is the Enduring Power of Attorney. Further investigation into the logistics of a formal reporting arrangement for Banks and Credit Societies, similar to that of suspicious transactions, through the Australian Bankers Association would be useful as a necessary mechanism to protect older Australians financial security. Police Training and Police Database Police training is also an issue raised and it is considered a more comprehensive training for elder abuse would ensure WA police are well-equipped and sufficiently trained in the identification of elder abuse. This would include training for the fraud squad to identify financial elder abuse. Furthermore, a formal data collection system could be adopted by the WA Police to incorporate elder abuse as a separate classification. Currently if a victim of elder abuse was physically assaulted then that would be reported as assault or domestic violence or if the abuse was financial the offence would be classified as a fraud. At the moment the availability of statistics which cover elder abuse is difficult and is not recorded by the WA Police systematically. Family Agreements Reform Currently there is no legislation regulating these agreements and as a result there is a barrier to justice for older people in cases when Family Agreements involve abuse. 24 Currently the only jurisdiction for legal redress involves largely civil actions in the Supreme Court of WA, therefore the legal costs associated with the action is high. An affordable and accessible means of redress is needed to prevent elder abuse from occurring. Page 16

17 CONCLUSION There is compelling evidence that while the incidence of elder abuse is hard to measure precisely, the circumstances in which it operates are making it more, not less likely to occur. An ageing population, increased financial pressures, growing numbers of Western Australians being diagnosed with diminished decision making conditions, all combine to heighten the risk of abuse, particularly related to financial and real property. While it remains a hidden crime and one associated with shame within families, it is difficult to counter. The true measure of the strength of a community is how it looks after its most vulnerable. The economic conditions in Western Australia right now provide the opportunity to build on the good work identifying and assisting those victims of elder abuse. Sharing the benefits of the boom by protecting elderly Western Australians from this shameful abuse is now both possible and imperative. This paper was written for WA Labor by Hon Sue Ellery MLC, Shadow Minister for Child Protection; Community Services; Seniors and Volunteering; Disability Services; Women s Interests We welcome your feedback and comments on this important issue. Please contact Sue Ellery s office on or sue.ellery@mp.wa.gov.au by February Page 17

18 REFERENCES 1. Clare, M. Blundell, B. Clare, J. (2011) Examination of the Extent of Elder Abuse in Western Australia: A Qualitative and Quantitative Investigation of Existing Agency Policy, Services Responses and Recorded Data, Report by Crime Research Centre UWA and Advocare Inc. 2. Faye, B. and M. Sellick. (2003). Advocare s speak out survey, S.O.S on elder abuse. Perth, Advocare Inc. 3. Black, B. (2008).The human rights of older people and agency responses to elder abuse. Curtin University of Technology. Perth. Department for Communities. 4. ibid 5. Alzheimer s Association WA. (2011). September, e- newsletter, Retrieved September, 2011 from 6. Western Australian Government. (2010).Office of the Public Advocate Annual Report 2009/10, Perth, Office of the Public Advocate, Department of the Attorney General. 7. Black, B. (2008).The human rights of older people and agency responses to elder abuse. Curtin University of Technology. Perth. Department for Communities. 8. Nicolaou, J. (2011) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Pulse, August Edition, pg Jenna Aziz Advocare October 2011 (phone conversation). 10. Pownall, A. (2011) More elderly abused by relatives The West Australian, Retrieved September 2011 from yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/ /more-elderly-abused-by-relatives (statistic between 2005 and 2008). 11. Amalfi, C. (2011, September 3).Criminal kids, Fremantle Herald, p Johnson, S. (2010). Elder Abuse: The Need for Law Reform. Northern Suburbs Community Legal Centre Inc. 13. ibid 14. Amalfi, C. (2011, September 3).Criminal kids, Fremantle Herald, p The Older Persons Rights Service. (2011). Annual report. Working for and with our communities, Northern Suburbs Legal Centre. 16. Johnson, S. (2010). Elder Abuse: The Need for Law Reform. Northern Suburbs Community Legal Centre Inc. 17. ibid 18. Black, B. (2008).The human rights of older people and agency responses to elder abuse. Curtin University of Technology. Perth. Department for Communities. 19. Western Australian Government. (2005) Mistreatment of Older People in Aboriginal Communities Project; An Investigation into Elder Abuse in Aboriginal Communities, Perth, Office of the Public Advocate, Department of the Attorney General. 20. Western Australian Government, (2006) Care and Respect Project to Research Elder Abuse in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities, Office of the Public Advocate. 21. Hon Robyn McSweeney, MLC, Minister for Seniors, WA Legislative Council, Parliamentary Question Time, Hansard, 28 June Queensland Government. (2011). Act as one campaign, Department of Communities, Retrieved September, 2011 from Clare, M. Blundell, B. Clare, J. (2011) Examination of the Extent of Elder Abuse in Western Australia: A Qualitative and Quantitative Investigation of Existing Agency Policy, Services Responses and Recorded Data, Report by Crime Research Centre UWA and Advocare Inc. 24. Johnson, S. (2010). Elder Abuse: The Need for Law Reform. Northern Suburbs Community Legal Centre Inc. Page 18