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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 5 Hansard (11 May) . . Page.. 1442 ..
MR CORBELL (continuing):
administration, and particular officials within the public administration, to administer that project. That is a direct link, or, you can even argue, an indirect link, between the budget document and the operation of the public service.
The Estimates Committee must, by its very nature, take a very broad brief in examining government activities. Of course, Mr Speaker, the Estimates Committee has a responsibility to look at the details contained within the Appropriation Bill and any revenue estimates proposed by the government, and past estimates committees have always done so. If the government feels a little bit uncomfortable because the Estimates Committee also examines a range of other initiatives for which the budget proposes expenditure to allow those initiatives to take place, directly or indirectly, then perhaps, Mr Speaker, the Estimates Committee is actually doing its job, and that is why the government is critical of it. We will, of course, be supporting this motion today.
Amendment (Ms Tucker's ) agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
MR RUGENDYKE (11.53): Mr Speaker, I move:
That the Standing Committee on Health and Community Care inquire into and report by the last sitting day in 2000 on the prevalence of elder abuse and the efficacy of reporting, resolution and support mechanisms for elder abuse issues in the ACT.
I rise today to seek support from members to instigate an inquiry into the disturbing rise of elder abuse in the ACT. Last month I met with representatives from the coalition formed to raise awareness of elder abuse in the ACT. This coalition comprises the Domestic Violence Crisis Service, the ACT Disability Aged and Carer Advocacy Service, the Council on the Ageing, the Older Women's Network Service, the Institute of Criminology and the Belconnen Community Service. The fact that this group has been compelled to form is a clear indication that there is major concern among people at the coalface of social issues.
So what is elder abuse? I am told it is a term that has been in for only the last 15 or 20 years and is used to describe any behaviour which results in harm to an older person. Types of elder abuse include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
In the government's Demographic Profile of Older People in Canberra publication released in June last year it was forecast that the number of people aged 50 and over would rise from one in five in 1998 to one in three by 2013. This shift in population demographics puts considerable demand on the service requirements that have to be in place over the next 15 years. There has to be adequate support and protection in place for
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