Ms Jacquie Petrusma (Member for Franklin) recently, 14 March, gave a speech in the Tasmanian Parliament in which she expressed her concern on the issue of elder abuse:

From working in aged care as a registered nurse and working with the Department of Health and Ageing where I actually investigated cases of elder abuse, I became very concerned that as a society we do not give our seniors the care and respect they deserve in their final years. This concern has only increased, especially of late, as more examples of elder abuse have come to my office and have appeared in the media.

Professor Linda Starr in the Aged Care INsite magazine provides an excellent definition of elder abuse. Elder abuse includes a wide range of behaviours and is commonly defined as a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person. . . .

Here in Tasmania the Guardianship and Administration Board’s annual report for 2010-11 provides many examples of elder abuse happening in Tasmania. It states:

‘By far the most prevalent form of elder abuse disclosed in applications before the board is financial abuse. It is significant that, of the examples of abuses detailed in this annual report, all but one were perpetrated by close family members.’  . . .

It is therefore critical that protective measures are put in place that prevents real or perceived reassure on older Tasmanians to feel that they should end their lives prematurely. We also need to ensure that children do not have inheritance impatience and that getting their early inheritance or their elderly parents’ income support payments is the only way to make ends meet. Most of all, we need a comprehensive elder abuse strategy across both State and Federal governments to ensure that elder abuse is minimised and that people feel supported and safe in their later years.

Read the entire speech here.  Also, Elder abuse a Tassie reality  and  Sad facts: Elder abuse in Australia  and  Euthanasia and elder abuse  and  Foundations for a Christian Perspective on Euthanasia.