A new report from Relationships Australia NSW (RANSW) reveals that 15% of elderly Australians are currently experiencing abuse, calling it a “silent epidemic” worsened by a lack of state action.
According to the daily telegraph, despite increasing cases, the NSW government has made little investment in elder abuse services over the past decade, the report claims. Abuse is most often psychological, financial, or neglect — and typically committed by the victim’s own children, who made up over 52% of reported offenders in late 2024.
Elder mediator Davina Regan has handled numerous distressing cases. “People would coerce older relatives to change their will, take out a mortgage or sell their house,” she said. In some cases, abuse includes physical or sexual violence.
One incident involved an adult child using her power of attorney to access her non-English-speaking parents’ money to fund a gambling addiction. In another, a son neglected his parent with dementia and Parkinson’s, failing to wash or feed them.
Regan said elder abuse is severely underreported. “We are an ageist society. Talking about older people isn’t sexy,” she noted. “There are more financial pressures on families and that seems to have exacerbated the abuse on older persons.”
RANSW’s policy paper calls for more mediation services and recommends making mediation mandatory in elder abuse cases, similar to custody arrangements in divorces. It also proposes expanding coercive control laws to cover family abuse beyond intimate partners.
RANSW CEO Elisabeth Shaw stressed: “Older people deserve dignity and safety, not abuse and neglect.” She warned the crisis is escalating and urged immediate action.
Source: dailytelegraph.com
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