Office for the Ageing (Adult Safeguarding) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 20 June 2018.)

The Hon. C. BONAROS (16:09): I rise to speak in support of the Office for the Ageing (Adult Safeguarding) Amendment Bill 2018. The bill, as we know, establishes a new adult safeguarding unit, which will be located in the office for ageing well, the department previously known as the Office for the Ageing. Part 2 of the bill provides for the name change, with the impetus for the change being a commitment by government to combat ageism and an acknowledgement that as Australians we are living longer and staying healthy for longer.

The fact that we are living longer should be a cause for celebration. For example, the proportion of older Australians participating in the workforce doubled between 2000 and 2015, from 6 per cent to 13 per cent. The knowledge and expertise that older Australians possess and share with others cannot be overestimated. We are living in an ageing community, where older people make up a considerable proportion of Australia's population.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2016 over one in seven people were aged 65 and over (that is around 3.7 million Australians, or 15 per cent of the population). That figure is expected to rise by some 23 per cent by 2055. Supporting our ageing population is therefore a major challenge facing our state and the federal government.

As Australia faces the inescapable demographic destiny of an ageing population, the increased risk of elder abuse is also an inescapable reality for many of our older Australians, which is why preventing elder abuse in an ageing world is everybody's business. Elder abuse is usually perpetrated by those in a relationship of trust and, sadly, we know that in many cases of elder abuse it is often the older person's own children, intimate partners and/or carers who perpetrate the abuse.

There are many personal stories of heartache and frustration involving older Australians, of families torn apart by elder abuse and families who live with the painful knowledge that their loved ones suffered in the final chapters of their lives. It is clear that action must be taken and power returned to our older Australians.

Elder abuse takes so many insidious forms. Psychological and emotional abuse appear to be the most common types, but it can also be verbal abuse, name-calling, bullying and harassment. It also includes treating an older person like a child, repeatedly telling them that they have dementia, threatening to withdraw affection, threatening to put them in a nursing home and preventing them from seeing friends and family.

Financial abuse is also a common element in elder abuse and includes stealing money or goods and abusing power of attorney arrangements. Of course, physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect are also prevalent and represent the darker elements of elder abuse. Common risk factors for abuse include disability, poor physical health, depression and social isolation, all of which require a whole-of-government approach to combat.

The new adult safeguarding unit, which forms the basis of the legislation and which will respond to complaints about elder abuse, is set out in section 15 of the bill, and a key focus of the unit will be on the prevention of abuse through raising awareness and community education. I am keen to hear from the minister about the form that awareness and education will ultimately take. The unit will also receive reports of alleged or suspected abuse and will be responsible for assessing and investigating these reports and, according to the minister's second reading explanation:

…either referring them on to appropriate persons or bodies, or working in collaboration with other agencies to coordinate a multiagency and multidisciplinary approach to responding to concerns in a way that puts the rights of the vulnerable adult at the centre.

A number of powers have been provided to the unit, including a range of coercive information gathering powers to enable it to investigate reports of abuse. In addition, part 4 of the bill provides for the voluntary reporting, but mandatory response, to a report of abuse or suspected abuse of a vulnerable adult. Of course, mandatory reporting in aged-care facilities is already in place for certain specific offences, as provided in the commonwealth Aged Care Act 1997, to help protect aged-care residents.

However, in relation to the bill, the government is of the view that mandatory reporting is not an appropriate approach to responding to adults with decision-making capabilities. I and SA-Best remain concerned about the nuanced way perpetrators of elder abuse can operate and the fear they can instil in their victims. While we have not moved amendments to the bill at this stage, I am keen to hear from the minister as to whether he would consider a mandatory reporting scheme in relation to serious physical or sexual abuse or neglect.

All abuse is, of course, serious, but a mandatory reporting scheme could focus on abuse at the higher end of the spectrum. A person's adult child who steals small amounts of money from a wealthy parent may be committing abuse, but the abuse might not be serious. Any mandatory scheme must, of course, be balanced with the rights of older people to make autonomous decisions about their personal situation. That is really where we run into some differences of opinion, I suppose, in relation to mandatory schemes, but it is one that I am very willing to discuss further with the minister.

Finally, the safeguarding provisions will apply to vulnerable adults aged 65 years or older, or 50 years or older for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, for the first three years of operation of the legislation. The bill also includes an independent review of the operation of the legislation within three years, and I support the review and look forward to that report in due course.

In closing, older persons should be able to live with dignity and security and be free of exploitation, physical, psychological, sexual or mental abuse. SA-Best trusts that the bill is a step in the right direction and I certainly look forward to further discussions with the government, and the minister in particular, regarding the concerns just outlined. With that, we support the second reading of the bill.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I. Pnevmatikos.