Parliamentary Committees

Joint Committee on Matters Relating to Elder Abuse

Ms COOK (Fisher) (11:03): I move:

That the final report of the committee be noted.

I am proud to rise to speak on the release in our house of this very important report. The Joint Committee on Matters Relating to Elder Abuse was instigated by me and the Hon. Kelly Vincent MLC, who will speak in the other place today. We planned to deliver our report within a year of commencing work and we have done so just about exactly. I thank all the members of the committee—the Hon. Kelly Vincent MLC, the Hon. Stephen Wade MLC, the Hon. John Gazzola MLC, Ms Dana Wortley MP and Mr Mitch Williams MP—who willingly gave of their time to dive deep into this vital and painful topic.

Some key contributors to our inquiry are present here today with us. Some have made a very long journey to be here. Even those who live locally have travelled a long and painful road to participate in this inquiry. For each of them, elder abuse has been a deeply personal family tragedy. Let the record show that on behalf of the committee I sincerely thank each and every one of our inquiry's witnesses, with special thanks to those attending the house today. I welcome them and I acknowledge their invaluable contribution.

I especially thank one of our very first witnesses, Ms Noleen Hausler. Noleen's heroic efforts in 2015 and 2016 helped secure an assault conviction against a residential aged-care worker who had abused her frail, utterly helpless and elderly father. Thank you, Noleen. The thoughts of the committee, and indeed of the parliament, have been with you throughout this inquiry. Your dear father, Clarence, is resting peacefully now.

It has not been easy for the committee to hear the testimony of those who have had direct experience of elder abuse, or from those who deal with it professionally, to share their frustration at the system, a system that is complex, unwieldy and confusing. The terrible fact is that elder abuse is an old problem, yet until recently for too many it was a hidden problem. Why? Most elder abuse actually takes place in the home in private settings, yet even in institutional settings events in our own state have proved that older people are not always safe. Why? Put simply, there have been far too many partners and too little leadership in this area.

How can this be? Our state has a very good South Australian elder abuse prevention strategy. It has been in place since 2014. We have a free South Australian elder abuse prevention phone line. We have the good efforts of many, many people. This problem is a national problem and it needs a national solution and it also needs renewed state investment in this area. The need for change is urgent, but we do not live in an ideal world. We live in a world with limited resources and competing priorities. That is why this report is a practical one in plain English.

We did not produce a very long wish list. We did not wander into 'should' territory. We have not even focused on 'could' territory. We have landed very firmly in 'can' and 'must' territory. We owe that to Noleen Hausler and the other witnesses here today, as well as to the victims. We received 34 submissions and made five unanimous, inclusive, practical and affordable recommendations to the state government. I am proud of our recommendations: each is a positive step, and together they are a game-changer. I will briefly run through the recommendations.

Recommendation 1 calls on the state government to advocate strongly to the federal government for leadership to provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach to elder abuse in Australia. It follows the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's report tabled this year. Recommendation 2 supports establishing a national strategy against elder abuse. It talks about codes of conduct, screening, restricted practices in residential aged care, and it covers other areas that will improve monitoring, research and education in our community.

The third recommendation calls on our state government to actively take part in the new federal government initiatives recently announced. This includes registers regarding enduring documents, extended mandatory reporting and clarification around the use of surveillance cameras in nursing homes. Recommendations 4 and 5 are specifically addressed by this state and can be. We call on the state government to introduce a bill to establish a new South Australian adult protection act. Our final recommendation calls on the state government to establish a South Australian elder abuse prevention unit, previously recommended in the Closing the Gap report back in 2011.

The state government must act where we can and where we have responsibility. We must lift our game in this area. We must set high benchmarks and we must advocate strongly in spaces where we do not have control. I will support this and I will not stop. We must do everything we can. We must work closely with the federal government in a new way. We must keep the pressure up, lobby and advocate. We need to work across political parties to see our recommendations come to life and to support those made in the Review of National Aged Care Quality Regulatory Processes, which was released last week.

Madam Deputy Speaker, fellow members, I thank everybody involved in the preparation of the report, and everybody who has supported it, including parliamentary staff—Myrana Wahlqvist, Shannon Riggs and Paul Collett—and I thank my fellow parliamentarians and commend the report to you.

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (11:09): I commend this report to the house, but there are a couple of matters I wish to raise and bring to the attention of the house with regard to the report and the process. It was a really interesting committee to sit on, and the evidence we received was equally interesting. There is no doubt in my mind that elder abuse is alive and well in our communities, and it is something to which I think we need to take a fresh approach.

Hopefully, the report will be part of that process, and I sincerely believe it will be if it is taken on board by the relevant people, particularly the state health department and our colleagues in the federal parliament. There were some things that fascinated me about the inquiry. Obviously, one of the most confronting issues was getting a handle on numbers, or the amount of elderly abuse that is occurring. None of the agencies that come across elderly abuse in their daily work (for instance, SAPOL) have historically kept datasets that fully expose the extent of the problem or the types of problems.

The data they had was quite general, which made it difficult for us to make more definite recommendations. The same could be said for other agencies that operate within this field. As I said, it seems, at least from anecdotal evidence, that elder abuse is alive and well. The vast majority of it occurs in the privacy of homes within the community. Most of it seems to be committed within families, even though the approach we took was about looking at elder abuse within institutional care. I think that is where we had to start, but at some stage we need to come up with some strategies to be able to tackle the problems within families, which to my mind is a hidden problem and probably significantly larger than we appreciate at this stage.

I will take the opportunity to say that I am somewhat pleased at the attitude I took in this house recently when we were debating euthanasia legislation. One of the concerns I had at the time was that there are many families where children reach the point where they would be pleased if their elderly mother moved out of the way so that the assets the family had accumulated, sometimes over generations, could be passed on to their generation. To me, that was a very real issue. My fears in that area were confirmed by some of the evidence and understanding I gained through being part of the committee. I am very pleased that this house ended up in the position it did on that particular matter.

One of the other disappointments I had with the work of the committee—and this was nobody's fault—is that if we were not coming towards the end of this parliamentary session the committee may have had the opportunity to take more evidence and look at wider issues. That was a source of disappointment to me and I am sure to other committee members. Maybe the next parliament will go back and have another look at this issue or open it up again and delve further into the matter. I am sure that there is a lot more that could be revealed with extra work.

One of the other disappointments I had—and it is a concern I have had for some time—is that we took the decision not to look into the Oakden matter, simply because there are a number of other inquiries afoot. As I said, we were under some time pressures and the decision was taken. There was no argument in the committee about this; the decision was taken that we would bypass that matter. I am somewhat disappointed that we found ourselves in that situation. That was a matter I was looking forward to looking into principally because I represent a rural electorate.

It is common right across regional South Australia that a lot of the aged-care facilities are attached to our country hospitals. They find themselves on the same campus. When the current government changed the management system of our country hospitals, disbanding the hospital boards, which had a significant management role in country hospitals, they took over not only the management of the hospitals but the management of the aged care facilities, which are very commonly on a shared campus with those hospitals.

I was looking forward to having the opportunity, if we were able, to look into the Oakden matter and to inquire into the financial arrangements that occur particularly within Country Health. I have no evidence, but there are some fears in my mind having observed country hospitals, country aged-care facilities attached to those hospitals and the budget pressure Country Health is under in delivering a suite of services in country areas.

I was looking forward to the opportunity to inquire into the financial arrangements and whether there was a cross-subsidisation from the funds given for the operation of those aged-care facilities at country hospitals, with some if not significant amounts of that money used to cross-subsidise the operation of the hospitals because of the budgetary pressure Country Health is under. I am disappointed that I was unable to make inquiries into that particular issue. I am suspicious that there is an issue and that the delivery of aged-care services in country regions may be compromised but, as I say, I have no evidence. It is just anecdotal and suspicion on my behalf.

With those caveats, I certainly commend the report. As I said, I think it is a way forward for the relevant agencies both at the state and commonwealth level. Interestingly, this is a matter that has been examined by many jurisdictions within this nation, and I am pretty certain that a lot of the parliaments that have inquired into these matters have come to pretty well the same conclusion. Hopefully in the not too distant future we will see much more activity in this area, and hopefully we can see some successes in tidying up what is undoubtedly a social scourge.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (11:18): I rise to speak in support of the report of the Joint Committee on Matters Relating to Elder Abuse, a committee of which I have been pleased to be a member. In doing so, I recall the words of a very dear friend who sadly died way too young at the age of 51. She told me she wanted to grow old, have white hair and be able to tell stories of her life to the young who would gather around her, that to grow old was in a way a rite of passage, one that she would miss out on, a rite of passage that would see her surrounded by loving members of her family, extended family and lifelong friends.

Like many in the community, we shared a view that respect for the senior members of our families, our parents and our grandparents, was a given. Unfortunately, the evidence we heard in this inquiry painted a very different picture for some elderly in our community. It is a different picture for those in some of our aged-care facilities, but significantly it is a different picture for some who remain in their home and for some who live alone and remain independent but are isolated. In our state, and in every other state and territory around the nation, we have in recent times seen a light shone on the devastating reality of elder abuse. Elder abuse is not something new, but its prevalence in our society has come to light in the past few years.

I would like to acknowledge today those family members present in the chamber who provided evidence to the committee in writing and in person, including the case that first triggered the public's concern through the determination of a daughter to stand up for her father. Noleen, and members of all the families who came forward and contributed to the committee's finding, you are indeed courageous.

I also acknowledge the professionals and the representatives from the different organisations, agencies and departments who gave evidence. You have all made a difference, and I thank each one of you for your efforts to raise public awareness of elder abuse and to assist us in our findings and recommendations. You saw a wrong, and, through your actions and subsequently the adoption of recommendations of this and other similar inquiries, we will do what we can to right it for the future.

The committee received 34 submissions, held eight public hearings and heard from 28 witnesses. Their experience, views and knowledge were considered, along with the information from other elder abuse inquiries, including the Australian Law Reform Commission's inquiry into elder abuse in Australia.

Our report makes five recommendations that support other expert inquiries around the nation in recent years. Recommendation 1 calls on the state government to advocate for strong federal government leadership. This is needed for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to elder abuse, and it is a key recommendation of the 2017 Australian Law Reform Commission's inquiry into elder abuse in Australia. The second recommendation supports the establishment of a national elder abuse strategy. This should include:

unregistered direct care workers coming under a planned national code of conduct for care workers;

national screening processes;

legislation to regulate the use of restricted practices in residential aged care;

a national online register of enduring documents; and

improved research, data collection and community awareness raising.

The third recommendation calls for the state government to actively take part in the new federal government initiatives announced on 1 October 2010, including making the most of the membership and the co-chairing of the national elder abuse working group, established in January 2017, using this group to discuss, clarify and promote, as appropriate:

an online register of enduring documents;

extended mandatory reporting; and

surveillance cameras in residential aged care.

Recommendation 4 calls on the state government to introduce a bill to establish a new South Australian adult protection act. The fifth recommendation calls on the state government to establish a South Australian elder abuse prevention unit, previously recommended in the Closing the Gap report. The committee supports a national approach called for by these experts.

I will continue to work in my community and in this place to do all I can to ensure that senior members of our community receive the care they deserve as very valued members of our community and also to ensure that the families who are here today, and many other families, do not have to go through the same kind of agony.

Ms COOK (Fisher) (11:23): Again, I would like to thank all members of the committee, all witnesses for their compelling stories and parliamentary staff, who provide us with incredible support and go above and beyond in order to make a report such as this meaningful, concise and give it the capacity for us to actually deliver on some really workable outcomes. It means that vulnerable people in our community will be safe.

Thank you to the member for MacKillop, Mitch Williams, who has provided some wisdom and really interesting thoughts throughout the committee and also just now. I will commit to making time to speak with him regarding regional facilities and also ongoing discussion and review of the matter of elder abuse in our community. Thank you to Ms Dana Wortley as well for her contribution. I commend the report to the parliament.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (11:24): As Chair of Committees, I am very grateful for your work and commend the report also.

Motion carried.