COTA welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) Elder Abuse Discussion Paper 83. The Commission’s Inquiry into Protecting the Rights of Older Australians from Abuse is a critically important initiative. We believe that the Inquiry will lay the ground for and give greater impetus to an overdue national response to law reform, service delivery and cultural change to protect older people from elder abuse.
COTA supports the intent of all the Proposals in the Discussion Paper. We acknowledge the comprehensive nature and scope of Proposals and the value of the supporting discussion and evidence. We strongly support the overall approach in the Discussion Paper to strengthening protections against elder abuse.
In our brief contribution below we:
- make comment on the crucial issue of defining elder abuse;
- identify Proposals we consider to be particularly important and urgent to implement;
- identify what we consider to be gaps in coverage of the Proposals; and
- offer additional comments on selected Proposals.
