Page 3612 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
abuse as they enter the more vulnerable stages of life. The protection of older people from any form of abuse is an absolute priority, and these protections are fundamental to the human rights of older Canberrans, who should be able to live free from abuse, violence and exploitation.
We know that the royal commission into aged care has already revealed some horrible circumstances where the abuse of older people has occurred both at home and in aged-care institutions. It is clear that we need stronger laws to protect older Canberrans from both physical and financial abuse. The creation of a specific elder abuse offence holds abusers to account and plays a significant part in keeping our older Canberrans safe in later life.
Our local framework document in the ACT is Age-friendly Canberra: A vision for our city, which I tabled in the Legislative Assembly on 21 February this year. An age-friendly city plan is currently being developed which will include targeted actions to ensure that older people are safe, secure and free from abuse and discrimination.
On 12 September 2019 I hosted a dedicated consultation forum on this topic. Older people and those who support them from across the community joined in discussions on how we can best tackle the issues of elder abuse and age discrimination in our community. A key initiative in the ACT is the establishment of the Older Persons ACT Legal Service, also known as OPALS. OPALS was a commitment in the 2018-19 budget. The government provided $640,000 to establish a seniors rights service within Legal Aid ACT. OPALS commenced operation in July 2018 and was formally launched last November.
OPALS provides a broad range of free and flexible legal assistance to older people in Canberra, including help with elder abuse, enduring powers of attorney, guardianship and financial arrangements with family members. It also makes referrals to other services if needed. The OPALS solicitor travels to meet clients if needed, bringing services to the people who need them, rather than expecting vulnerable older people to come to them.
The demand for OPALS services demonstrates the community confidence in the help we are providing to older Canberrans. In the first financial year, OPALS provided legal advice and assistance on 98 occasions. In the last quarter alone, the figure was 58 occasions of advice and assistance, showing a twofold increase on the previous quarter.
Since July last year, OPALS has also taken over the older persons abuse prevention referral information line, known as APRIL, a phone line that was previously managed by the Community Services Directorate. Placing this service with OPALS has clear synergies in providing a single point of contact for assistance with elder abuse. OPALS received a total of 553 telephone calls last financial year, with nearly half of the calls received during the last quarter. This also reflects the ACT’s participation in the single elder abuse national phone line: 1800 ELDERHelp, or 1800 353 374.
Since March this year, a telephone call made to 1800 ELDERHelp has been automatically redirected to the elder abuse phone line service of the jurisdiction in
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video