Call To Review Criminal Laws To Help Prosecute Cases Of Elder Abuse
Monday 1 December 2014 @ 12.34 p.m. | Crime
The problem of elder abuse has been highlighted this week by Professor Wendy Lacey of the University of South Australia. Speaking at the Australian Association of Gerontology conference last week, she called for a review of criminal laws in light of the low rate of prosecutions for elder abuse. Professor Lacey also called for continuing education about the prevalence of elder abuse, particularly for coroners.
Professor Lacey said that part of the problem was that the Government had no power to address elder abuse under the Constitution, meaning any legislative changes would not be a national movement, but would have to come from the states. She said current state laws are a “patchy framework” that fails to address the specific problems of elder abuse.
Elder abuse can take place in many forms, including financial, physical, social and sexual abuse. Western Australia has estimated that there are at least 12,500 victims of elder abuse living in the state, New South Wales has said there may be 50,000 and Tasmania has estimated there could be around 5000 victims, although in all states it is likely to be underreported. A report by the Sunday Telegraph said the NSW Elder Abuse Helpline’s analysis of its calls “found women aged 75-84 were most at risk of abuse, with their children aged 45-64 identified as primarily responsible for their inhumane neglect.”
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse is considered to be one of the more common kinds of elder abuse. It may be particularly underreported because it often occurs within families. Justice Connect Seniors Law manager Lauren Adamson told SBS News in September that few victims are aware of their rights, and there are often significant barriers for them to overcome to be able to ask for help. They were also concerned about the expense of litigation, but also the stress. Ms Adamson told SBS News “she knew of a woman in her 90s who was cross-examined for three days during family court proceedings.” They would then simply deal with the “emotional toll of the abuse” as being preferential to pursuing litigation.
Physical and Sexual Abuse
A report released in July of this year, known as ‘Norma’s Project’ highlighted the extent of the physical and sexual elder abuse. Catherine Barrett, one of the authors of the report, told the Sydney Morning Herald that:
“despite the parallels between child abuse and elder abuse – with perpetrators preying on the most vulnerable in society – statistics and awareness about sexual violence against older women lag about a generation behind that of assaults on children.”
Research that is available shows that half of women aged over 70 die within a year of being abused.
Professor Lacey said that while there are mandatory reporting requirements in place under the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth), these only covered suspected physical and sexual abuse of seniors living in residential aged care, and still left many people vulnerable.
Elder Abuse and Criminal Law
Professor Lacey told the conference that very few cases of elder abuse were prosecuted, and she believes that one obstacle to this is:
“Coroners aren’t necessarily looking at elder abuse as being a possible cause or contributor to cause of death; that’s a real problem… In my opinion, coroners’ offices need more education about the prevalence of elder abuse and the fact they should be alerted to it and able to prosecute it.”
She also blamed “old myths that older people don’t necessarily make good witnesses; they don’t give great testimony.”
Western Australia’s Acting Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Panaia told SkyNews in September this year that after a change in the way elder abuse was reported, WA police realised the issue was far more widespread than they had previously believed. They found that 68 per cent of reported cases were family related. Sky News reported:
“Mr Panaia said it was difficult to prosecute perpetrators of elder abuse because of the lack of evidence and credible witnesses in cases. He said prosecutors were likely to discontinue criminal proceedings if the victim could not endure cross examination due to credibility issues like dementia. Mr Panaia said it was likely the criminal justice system was never going to prevent or be a solution to elder abuse and it was important to instead provide support for victims.”
Professor Lacey said “there is a lot of work to be done” in increasing understanding of elder abuse among politicians and the community in general. As Australia’s population ages, it is likely that the issue will only increase in importance.
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