SCWK90055 Chap.11 Elder Abuse: Recognition and Responses
Elder Abuse: Recognition and Responses
Elder abuse brings together the human rights, guardianship and family violence themes of earlier chapters. This chapter gives the World Health Organization definition, with its emphasis on relationships of trust, and the five types of abuse the module names: physical, sexual, psychological, financial and neglect.
It sets the long-standing WHO prevalence estimate beside the first national prevalence study, which asked 7,000 people aged 65 or older and found that one in six had experienced abuse in the previous year. It explains that most abuse occurs in families and can be family violence, lists the risk factors, and describes the debate about mandatory reporting.
It closes with Victoria's empowerment approach, the legal, health and social, and advocacy responses available, the role of Seniors Rights Victoria, and current reform. The chapter keeps returning to the older person's own wishes, because Victoria's approach treats them as the starting point of any response rather than an afterthought.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Definition and relationships of trust
- 02
Five types of elder abuse
- 03
Prevalence: WHO and the national study
- 04
Risk factors and family violence links
- 05
Mandatory reporting debate
- 06
Empowerment and response options
Worked example · free
Reading prevalence figures correctly
- 1The WHO estimated elder abuse at 2% to 14% of older people in middle and high income countries.
- 1The national study, commissioned in 2020, asked 7,000 people aged 65 or older about abuse.
- 1It found one in six, or 15%, had experienced elder abuse in the previous 12 months.
- 1So the Australian figure sits at the top of, or just above, the WHO range, not below it.
Key terms
- Elder abuse
- Elder abuse is harm to an older person, whether physical, psychological, financial or social, by someone in a position of trust.
- Financial abuse
- Financial abuse is the unlawful or wrongful taking or use of an older person's money or property.
- Neglect
- Neglect is a carer's failure to meet an older person's basic needs, such as food, care and hygiene.
- Empowerment approach
- The empowerment approach is Victoria's policy of centring older people's own decisions in responses to abuse, without mandatory reporting.
- Seniors Rights Victoria
- Seniors Rights Victoria is a service that provides legal help, education and advocacy about elder abuse.
- Adult safeguarding agency
- An adult safeguarding agency is a body with powers to investigate the abuse of adults at risk, as in South Australia.
Elder Abuse: Recognition and Responses FAQ
How common is elder abuse in Australia?
Australia's first national prevalence study, NEAPS, asked 7,000 people aged 65 or older and found that one in six, 15%, had experienced elder abuse in the previous 12 months. The WHO had estimated 2% to 14% for comparable countries.
Is elder abuse mainly a problem in aged care homes?
No. High-profile cases led to a Royal Commission into aged care, but the module stresses that most elder abuse occurs within private families. Much of it also counts as family violence, a link drawn by Victoria's 2016 Royal Commission.
Is elder abuse subject to mandatory reporting in Victoria?
No. Victoria uses an empowerment approach and rejects mandatory reporting of elder abuse. The module names only two Australian reporting schemes: aged care operators reporting assaults to police, and all adults in the Northern Territory reporting domestic harm.
What risk factors should a worker watch for?
Dependence on others, especially the abuser; disability or cognitive impairment; poor physical or mental health; low income; social isolation; living alone with the abuser; being over 74; and being a woman, since women face greater risk than men.
What legal options exist when an older person is being abused?
Options include guardianship, administration or a review of an enduring power of attorney, a family violence intervention order, and police investigation for crimes such as theft or assault. Non-legal responses and referral to Seniors Rights Victoria usually run alongside them.
Assessment move
Learn the definition with its emphasis on trust, then the five types with one example each, including cases where types overlap. Memorise the two prevalence figures with their sources and the size of the national survey. List the risk factors and practise spotting them in short scenarios. Learn why Victoria rejects mandatory reporting and be able to name the two schemes the module mentions.
Finally, for each scenario you practise, list one legal response and one non-legal response, starting from the older person's own wishes, which is the core of the empowerment approach.
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