World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. F. Pangallo:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges that since 2006, concerned citizens, professionals, older people and service providers gather on 15 June each year to commemorate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and encourages members of the council to wear purple to raise awareness of elder abuse;

2. Notes that World Elder Abuse Awareness Day recognises the significance of elder abuse as a growing social and financial concern, public health matter, and human rights issue;

3. Acknowledges that elder abuse comes in many forms including physical, psychological, financial, social, sexual and neglect and can be experienced in the community as well as living in an aged-care facility;

4. Recognises that one in 20 older people are the victims of elder abuse and that more research is required to tackle this critical issue;

5. Supports the National Plan to address elder abuse and the need for governments at both state and federal level to work together to address violence, abuse and neglect of older people;

6. Encourages governments to work with the non-government sector which provides crucial support to older people who are at risk of abuse, or who are being abused;

7. Supports the implementation of adult safeguarding legislation that balances the state's duty to protect people from abuse and its duty to protect people's freedom and autonomy; and

8. Recognises that elder abuse is unacceptable in any form and that all older South Australians deserve to live a life free of violence, abuse and neglect.

(Continued from 6 June 2018)

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (20:22): I rise on behalf of the Labor opposition to indicate our support for the motion, which acknowledges World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on 15 June annually. The United Nations General Assembly first designated 15 June as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in December 2011 as the main day in the year when the world voices its opposition to the abuse and suffering inflicted on older people. I would hope that the abuse and suffering inflicted on older people is in the forefront of our minds every day of the year.

Elder abuse is recognised as the mistreatment of an older person by someone they have a relationship of trust with, be it a partner, family member, friend, carer or other person. This abuse could be in many forms, including physical, social, financial, psychological, sexual or some form of neglect.

This year, Adelaide marked the day with the Aged Rights Advocacy Service's World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Conference held on 17 June. I understand that this event was attended by the shadow minister for health and wellbeing, the member for Kaurna in the other place, and was by all accounts a great success.

Awareness of elder abuse and taking action to combat it is increasingly important as the population in our state and, indeed, the world ages. Between 2015 and 2050, the global population aged 60 years or older is expected to more than double from 900 million to approximately two billion. As the proportion of older people continues to grow, so too should the focus on ensuring individuals remain connected to their communities, provided with support mechanisms and recognised as respected members of our society. This is important to ensure a continued quality of life.

More needs to be done in our state to combat elder abuse. Sadly, this government is not doing enough to address significant concerns regarding potential elder abuse in our state-run nursing homes. The state government took 133 days to release their independent audit into state-run aged-care facilities, releasing the document under the cover of the federal aged-care royal commission, with reported incidents of residents being restrained for more than seven hours at a time, undue force by staff not reported to police and squalid conditions, with soiled clothing and furniture, food left on the floor and residents' mouths not cleaned after meals.

We learned earlier this year of the alarming reports that in Barmera two state-run aged-care centres failed 21 of 44 accreditation standards, with a lacklustre response from the Minister for Health and Wellbeing on what steps will be taken to protect residents. What we know now from the government's audits is that these centres are not isolated in this neglect. This report has been heavily redacted, not allowing the South Australian people to review the performance of their government to manage these facilities.

Of course, the Marshall government's management of their upcoming trial of CCTV in aged care has been a disaster, with the entire process criticised by aged-care advocate Stewart Johnston, who I am advised stated:

I would encourage anyone concerned to install their own hidden camera—it will be safer than any inferior solution SA Health may come up with in the future, let me tell you.

The deadline for this trial has been missed, with the government not specifying if a payout was made to Care Protect after breaking their contract. The government's chosen trial sites completely avoided the centres of abuse and neglect identified in their own audit of state-run aged-care facilities.

It is time the government stood up for elder Australians, providing the support and resources they need to enjoy the quality of life they deserve. No person should be subject to violence, abuse or neglect, and it is the responsibility of the parliament to provide these safeguards. It is time to invite stakeholders together to address the drastic shortfalls of this industry and put short and long-term resources into fixing one of society's biggest problems.

I commend this motion and on behalf of the opposition agree that it is the state's duty to protect people from abuse and protect people's freedom and autonomy.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (20:27): I thank the Hon. Frank Pangallo for bringing this motion to the council. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to tackling elder abuse wherever it occurs through awareness raising, nation-leading projects and initiatives, significant capital investments and, of course, partnerships with key organisations who share our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of older South Australians.

The statistics on elder abuse are sobering. They tell us that one in every 20 older Australians is experiencing some form of abuse at the hands of somebody they know and trust. Fifty per cent of these cases are cases of financial abuse; 80 per cent are abuse committed by a family member. Abuse of older people is never acceptable. It must be identified, called out and stopped.

On 1 October this year, the new Adult Safeguarding Unit within the Office for Ageing Well opened. The unit is a national first under landmark legislation the Marshall Liberal government introduced into this council within our first 100 days in office, honouring an election commitment. To highlight how hollow the words of the Hon. Russell Wortley were, the recommendation to establish an adult safeguarding unit was first put down in 2011. Perhaps we could have avoided the shameful Oakden tragedy if the Weatherill government had any real commitment to the welfare of older South Australians.

The Adult Safeguarding Unit takes reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of people aged 65 and over, or 50 and over if they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. The unit makes it easier for members of our community to report cases of suspected abuse or harm, and the unit must act on those reports.

A key focus of the unit's work is minimising harm and intervening early, supporting multiagency coordination and information sharing, placing the adult who may be vulnerable because of their health or circumstances at the centre of any decisions. It provides a place where adults who are at risk of abuse or who are being abused can have their voices heard, where their concerns can be responded to and where issues can be followed up to ensure that matters raised have been acted upon appropriately. The unit is staffed by skilled and dedicated professionals with significant experience in working with older people from diverse backgrounds.

The community can seek free confidential advice and support or report abuse by contacting the Adult Safeguarding Unit through the Elder Abuse Prevention Phone Line. Since the safeguarding unit opened on 1 October this year, up until 2 December it had received 199 calls. More than one-third of those calls were assessed as reports to be further investigated or followed up. While the volume of calls is disturbing, it is also testament to a growing understanding amongst South Australians that there is a way to seek help. The Adult Safeguarding Unit is only one of a number of actions and investments the Marshall government has made to better support vulnerable South Australians.

In the shadow of Labor's Oakden scandal, the Liberal Party from opposition committed to a clinical audit of every state-run aged-care facility to make sure that elderly South Australians living in government-run facilities were not living in what was or could become another Oakden. Labor refused to commission such an audit. There were close to two dozen facilities that were not subject to external review under the former Labor government. We promised to do it and we have kept that promise.

The audit process started in October 2018 and was completed in the first half of 2019. In all, 44 facilities were audited and reports of those audits have been publicly released. The audits identified key areas for improvements, both site-specific and statewide. In response, each regional local health network has come up with regional and site-specific plans to ensure that the care provided to hundreds of elderly South Australians living in these facilities is of a high quality and that each resident's safety and wellbeing is it at the forefront of everything we do.

This is an ongoing task and an example of the Marshall Liberal government responding strongly to a challenging situation that Labor refused to see or address. One in five cases of abuse involves people living with dementia. The Marshall Liberal government is determined to protect and better support elderly South Australians with dementia, in particular through the establishment of a centre of dementia care excellence on the site of the former Repat hospital.

As part of our commitment to reactivating the Repat, we are turning the former Ward 18 into an 18-bed neurobehavioural unit. That unit will sit alongside a brand-new, purpose-built, 78-bed residential service which will provide care and accommodate people with varying stages of dementia. The Morrison and Marshall governments remain committed to trialling the use of monitoring equipment in facilities next year. What is commonly called the CCTV pilot will explore if and how technology can be used to reduce the risk of elder abuse and improve the quality of life of older South Australians for whom our facilities are their homes. This is another nation-first initiative.

Our work to respond to elder abuse reaches beyond our state borders. The Marshall Liberal government continues to work with the commonwealth and other states and territories towards a national approach to respond to the abuse of older Australians. South Australia was co-chair of the national Council of Attorneys-General working group on protecting the rights of older Australians, which developed the National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians. We are working together with the Attorney-General's Department to implement the national plan to address elder abuse, prevention, recognition and response.

The government is continuing to work across both government and non-government sectors to provide crucial support to older people at risk of abuse and those who are being abused. We are continuing to ensure that South Australians know their rights and their responsibilities, to plan ahead and to know where to seek information and advice. In partnership with the Legal Services Commission, the Office for Ageing Well developed the comprehensive Knowing Your Rights: a Guide to the Rights of Older South Australians publication. It contains important factual information for older people to use to help them exercise their rights, maintain their independence and control decisions that affect them.

To ensure these messages are accessible for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the Office for Ageing Well has partnered with the Multicultural Communities Council of South Australia to help tailor key messages from the Knowing Your Rights booklet for the Italian, Greek, Polish, Chinese, Vietnamese, German and Croatian-speaking communities.

Building on this approach and through its ageing well grants program, the Office for Ageing Well is partnering with a number of CALD community organisations—the Multicultural Communities Council of South Australia, the Council on the Ageing South Australia and the Aged Rights Advocacy Service—to establish local ageing well community networks.

These networks will bring together key community connectors, professionals and interested individuals within CALD communities and Aboriginal, LGBTI and regional communities to increase community understanding of rights and safeguards to support people to age well. Network members will share information, resources and learnings with each other, the broader community and the Office for Ageing Well.

Eighty per cent of elder abuse is committed by a trusted family member and often occurs secretly and in silence. The Marshall Liberal government is acting to end that silence, to shine the light on elder abuse whenever and however it occurs. That is something we have done with great energy and purpose in our first two years in government and something we will continue to do in the years ahead.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (20:36): I would like to thank the Hon. Russell Wortley and also the Hon. Stephen Wade for their contributions. Let me say that I strongly commend the work the Hon. Stephen Wade has put into aged care and aged-care abuse. I look forward to the day when CCTV cameras are in aged-care facilities, and I sincerely hope that the trial does eventually get underway and provides positive results.

Again, since I filed this motion going back to earlier this year, much has happened in the sphere of what we call the aged-care sector. Of course, we have had the first interim report by the royal commission into ageing. As predicted, it was quite damning and highlighted the abject neglect of the elderly in our society. Hopefully, some good will come out of that. Interestingly, another debate has erupted as a result of this. I know it may not be related to elder abuse, but it is the issue of ageism.

I do not know whether members saw it, but there was a very good article written by my good friend Ian Henschke, who is the National Seniors Chief Advocate. In that article, he points to the fact that ageism could well be the last great prejudice in our society. Of course, ageism is not necessarily directed at the older section of society: it also hits the 50s and over. Interestingly enough, 30 per cent of our population are what are termed 'boomers'. Every second voter is over 50 years of age; that is, one in every two voters is over 50 years of age.

When I see Ian, he always reminds me, 'Frank, it will either be you or me who will end up in a nursing home,' because one in two Australians end up in nursing homes.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: No, they don't.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Yes, they do.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: No, they don't.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: One in two Australians end up in nursing homes.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Seven per cent of the population.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Well, we are talking now about a population that is ageing, and it is 30 per cent of them. Again, since I put in this motion, my mother has entered an aged-care facility. I am very fortunate that we have found a very caring and nurturing aged-care facility, but it has also enabled me to experience firsthand what happens inside an aged-care facility, the staff who run it and what goes on in ensuring that our senior citizens, people we need to respect, are really well looked after and cared for. That is the most important thing.

I was talking about the population and 30 per cent of the population being boomers. Of course, the new put-down in society today is, 'Okay, boomer,' which is something that the younger generation tend to use, aimed at the older generation. In fact, if you look at it also from the controversial and much-derided 'old mate' campaign, 'old mate' became the butt of jokes, probably more so because he was an old bloke, so we still have some challenges to confront.

Summing up again (I know I have digressed), I think the issue of elder abuse is now becoming a wider issue with ageism in society. With that, I thank everybody for their contributions. Again, I commend the Hon. Stephen Wade because I know he is quite passionate about the aged-care sector. I commend the motion to the chamber.

Motion carried.