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Elder Rights Advocacy was joined by the local Proactive Police Unit to focus on elder abuse and what it consists of in Victoria.
They and their teams have been working to create the Stronger Together Project.
Stronger Together runs place-based events to strengthen partnerships between police, aged care providers, older people, families, and advocates to tackle elder abuse and incidents in aged care, aiming to increase reporting to police, and raise awareness and referrals to victim support services.
“We know that elder abuse is underreported,” Elder Rights Advocacy Education Manager Briony Underwood told the Express.
Ms Underwood explained that people who are confronted with elder abuse often don’t know how to report it, creating difficulties when conversing with police.
The fact that elder abuse is underreported is believed to be a mixture of the following:
reporters are hesitant to come forward
older people don’t realise they are being abused
people are unsure of what elder abuse consists of
“We talk to staff about what elder abuse is, how to recognise it, how to respond to it, and the reporting that is involved and how to report to police and communicate to them in a way they will understand.”
At specific resident sessions, elder abuse is taught to older people to help them stay informed to know if they have been abused, how to report it, as well as what support is available for them.
“...We really hope it increases reporting of elder abuse – that’s the aim,” Ms Underwood said.
“So too, strengthening partnerships with police, aged care providers, older people, and advocates to increase the reporting of elder abuse.”
In Victoria, the number of people aged over 65 who have experienced elder abuse has risen by 35 per cent since 2020, according to the Victorian Crime database.