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Seniors Rights VictoriaAnnuAl RepoRt1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012

Seniors Rights VictoriaAnnual Report 1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012

4 Seniors Rights Victoria – Annual Report 2011–2012

HouRS of opeRAtionSeniors Rights Victoria Helplineour telephone information and referral service operates from 10am to 5pm Monday to friday.

Legal and Advocacy Serviceour Legal and Advocacy Service operates from 9am to 5pm Monday to friday.

fundingMajor Funders:• department of Health, Seniors programs and

participation unit, Ageing and Aged Care Branch

• Victoria Legal Aid

The Funding Components for 2011/12 were: department of Health $495 072Victoria Legal Aid $465 650federal Attorney general $71 192

The Legal Services Board provided project funding of $110,890 for the development and publication of education materials for lawyers and the community about financial elder abuse.

Supported by

Seniors Rights Victoria – Annual Report 2011–2012 5

SenioRS RigHtS ViCtoRiASeniors Rights Victoria provides information, support, advice and education to help prevent elder abuse and safeguard the rights, dignity and independence of older people.

our experienced advocates and legal advisors provide a welcoming and respectful environment where older people can talk confidentially about their experiences and choose their preferred course of action.

our services include a Helpline, specialist legal services, short-term support and advocacy for individuals and community education. Seniors Rights Victoria also provides leadership on policy and law reform and works with organisations and groups to raise awareness of elder abuse.

The Australian network for the prevention of elder Abuse defines elder abuse as:A single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person. Abuse may be physical, sexual, financial, psychological, emotional, social and/or neglect.

(AnpeA 1999)

our long term vision is to become a centre for excellence that promotes, empowers, protects and enhances the rights of older people in the prevention of, and response to, elder abuse and ageism.

Clients are over the age of 60 years (45 years for indigenous clients), or approaching that age and have age related disabilities. They have issues related to ageing and are experiencing, or at risk of, elder abuse, neglect, mistreatment or exploitation.

Seniors Rights Victoria is an unincorporated joint venture between four parties; Council on the Ageing (CotA) Victoria as the lead agency, the public interest Law Clearing House (piLCH), Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre (LCCLC) and eastern Community Legal Centre (eCLC).

The service is based in Melbourne at CotA Vic. An outpost service is based at the Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre and pro bono legal clinics are coordinated by piLCH at a number of health service sites across Melbourne.


MAnAgeR’S RepoRt

Seniors Rights Victoria celebrated four years of operation in April 2012. it has been something of a milestone year. Back in 2008 when we first began, there was very little in the way of service models for us to replicate. So, we spent our early years feeling our way, innovating and developing our model as we went. This year, i believe we have now reached the point where we can confidently say that we have consolidated.

As I think about all that we have achieved, I am touched by a pleasant irony: we are a young organisation developing wisdom quickly, working with older people with a lifelong accumulation of wisdom.

This year, we undertook a thorough strategic planning process. it was an ideal chance to take stock of all that we have achieved, to review the knowledge we have gleaned and to consider the changing environment of elder abuse response. We applied a vision for an effective and ongoing response to elder abuse prevention and support into the future. The plan, which will guide us into our next stage, is outlined further in this report.

i am very proud of all that we have achieved this year. Some of the highlights are outlined below and you can find out more about these further on in this report.

2011–2012 highlights:• Successfully launched Assets for Care: A guide

for lawyers to assist older clients at risk of financial abuse.

• Held a well-attended World elder Abuse Awareness day forum: Cross Cultural perspectives in elder Abuse

• Supported local community events to recognise World elder Abuse Awareness day, including

the successful celebrations organised by our staff at Bendigo

• finalised our first year’s operational plan derived from our new strategic plan

• implemented our new tailor-made client data collection and management system, which will give us richer information about the issues facing people who call us

• Made our presence known overseas with a presentation at the international federation of Ageing conference in prague, and

• enjoyed the perfect client who kept detailed records of their financial transactions with their family members. And they had used a solicitor who took measures to protect their financial interests. So when things did unfortunately take a turn for the worse, there was strong evidence to advocate their rights.

This list is not all inclusive, but enough to highlight our triumphs and encourage you to read on.

i would particularly like to acknowledge Hazel ingram who assisted as a locum advocate when we were in a tight spot, and to mention the very welcome return of elizabeth Samra from maternity leave.

Seniors information Victoria was terrific in servicing the Helpline throughout the year. They were responsive and sensitive to our callers and our intake requirements. i would also like to thank the staff and volunteers for their dedication and insights, the management committee members for their governance and vision, and the consultants and funders who support us and enhance our efforts.

i hope you will enjoy reading through these pages and learning more about our milestone year. i look forward to your continued support in the future.

Jenny Blakey Manager, Seniors Rights Victoria


StRAtegiC pLAn 2012–14

This year we conducted a thorough consultative process to develop strategic directions for the next stage of our development. We contracted Cocoon Consulting and Jackie Moden Consulting to research, interview key stakeholders and funders, and facilitate the staff group and management committee to produce our new strategic plan.

The strategies explored through the development of the Victorian government’s elder abuse prevention and response guidelines for action 2012–14 also contributed to our thinking.

Our strategic goals are that, by 2014, Seniors Rights Victoria will have:

• Contributed or influenced law reform and policy development at a local, state and federal level (Leadership and influence)

• developed innovative service responses informed by older people (empowering and engaging older people)

• increased its knowledge base on elder abuse and senior rights through research and data analysis (A Learning organisation)

• Built its capacity and expertise to enable legal and advocacy responses to elder abuse at the local level through provision of information, community education and campaigns (effective and Reflective practice)

• Strengthened internal and external partnerships across the health and community, aged care and legal sectors (Stronger partner Relationships)

• A clear and streamlined governance structure which supports organisational effectiveness (organisational Sustainability)

HELPLINE CALLERS

HELPLINE CALL TOPICS

600

600

500

500

400

400

300

300

200

200

100

100

0

0

Business organisation

Financial abuse

Relative/friend

Community education

Government department

Emotional/ psychological abuse

Self

Physical abuse

Other person

Other

Non-profit service provider

General information

Student/teacher

SRV worker request

Supportlink

Health services

Neglect


HeLpLine And intAKe SeRViCein 2011/12 our Helpline was staffed by Seniors information Victoria, which provided telephone information, assistance and support and acted as the intake service for Seniors Rights Victoria.

This year the Helpline received 1 532 telephone calls related to the different aspects of our work. The majority of these calls related to issues of elder abuse, with some callers reporting more than one type of abuse. frequently callers required information only and no further assistance at that time.

Helpline staff referred 544 callers to the Seniors Rights Victoria Legal and Advocacy Service for elder abuse advice and support.

older people calling on their own behalf made up 38 per cent (581) of callers. other callers included staff in aged care, health and other services making up approximately 34 per cent (515) of callers to the service. friends or relatives calling about an older person they were concerned about constituted 27 per cent (412) of callers.

Helpline Call TopicsThis chart depicts the main types of issues discussed during a Helpline call. The most prevalent topics were financial abuse (521 calls) and emotional/psychological abuse (499 calls).

other abuse issues such as social abuse represent a small percentage of the total so are included as ‘other’.

Some calls related to more than one issue or type of abuse. frequently financial and emotional/psychological abuses co-occur.

Genderelder abuse-related calls to the service continued to be made predominantly by women, who made up 75 per cent of all callers.


SenioRS RigHtS LegAL CLiniCS

AdVoCACY And LegAL SeRViCeS

Seniors Rights Legal Clinics are delivered in partnership with the public interest Law Clearing House (piLCH). The Clinics operate from four allied health services at various metropolitan Melbourne sites. This model not only ensures easy access for clients, it also facilitates referrals from service providers with whom the client already has a relationship of trust. Clients can also receive support and assistance for their non-legal needs, whilst the clinics respond to their legal concerns.

The clinics are appointment-based occurring on a set day each fortnight. The partner organisations are Caulfield Hospital (Alfred Health), Bundoora extended Care Centre (northern Health), doutta galla Community Health (niddrie), and the Western Region Community Health Centre (footscray).

The Clinics are staffed by pro bono lawyers from five participating piLCH member firms: • Hall & Wilcox • Herbert geer • Holding Redlich • Lander & Rogers • norton Rose

We would like to acknowledge the significant ongoing commitment each of these firms has made to the Seniors Rights Legal Clinics since their inception. Their assistance includes support with community and professional legal education and our annual training program, as well as the provision of excellent pro bono legal services.

our integrated advocacy and legal service provides advice and casework to clients over the telephone and in person. Clients accessing the service will generally speak to both a lawyer and an advocate, receiving advice in relation to both the legal and non-legal aspects of their situation. This service is based at the Melbourne office and is delivered in collaboration with the out-posted office at Bendigo.

This year the service received a large number of calls from older people with adult children living with them. typically, the adult child had returned home following a relationship breakdown or some other significant event, and taken control of their parents’ lives in unwanted and unnecessary ways. in most of these cases the adult child had alcohol, drug, gambling or mental health issues and was verbally, emotionally and quite often financially abusive towards their parent.

in these cases clients are often resistant to taking legal avenues of redress, such as family violence intervention orders or actions in trespass. Clients offer reasons such as not wanting to “get their child into trouble with the police”, fear of their child experiencing homelessness and a sense of parental duty. The legal and advocacy team worked closely with other support services, such as family violence and drug and alcohol services with the aim of providing a holistic response to these clients.

once again, the service noted a large number of enquiries about financial loss arising from the disposal of assets in exchange for future care and accommodation, often under pressure from a close family member. in most instances, the service saw clients after the event - leaving the older person without adequate resources for their retirement and with broken family relationships. The emotional upset involved often occurred in conjunction with serious health issues. The untangling of these arrangements was often fraught with difficulties, not the least of which was the complexity of obtaining legal redress.

in the past year, Seniors Rights Victoria drew on the generous support of Victoria’s pro bono legal fraternity to obtain legal counsel and representation in the Supreme Court for a number of clients. The matters are extremely complex and have yet to be decided.

The legal and advocacy team at Seniors Rights Victoria continues to provide secondary consultations to other legal practitioners and non-legal practitioners in the community, and is committed to that service. The legal team is in the process of developing a suite of guides to assist lawyers with common elder abuse scenarios, with a view to posting these guides on the website in the near future.

AGE RANGE

ADVICE BY PROBLEM TYPE

6%

11%

3%

21%

37%

11%

15%

39%

15%

3%

13%

3%

6%

15%

2%

55–59 years

Financial abuse

70–74 years

Social abuse

60–64 years

Physical abuse

75–79 years

Neglect

90–94 years

65–69 years

Emotional/ psychological abuse

80–84 years

Other

95–99 years

85–89 years


CLientS

AdViCe

older people acting on their own behalf constituted 56 per cent (306 clients) of people contacting the integrated advocacy and legal service. This is consistent with our organisation’s ethos of empowerment through direct practice with older people.

Service providers constituted 40 per cent (217) of people contacting the service, which is an increase since 2010/11. family members with concerns about an older person constituted 4 per cent (20) of people contacting the service, which is lower than 2010/11.

The age of older people who accessed the service is relatively evenly spread across the middle of the target age-range, as represented here.

A significant number of Seniors Rights Victoria clients are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The service used telephone or on-site interpreters on 153 occasions to assist clients from 17 different language backgrounds.

The advocacy and legal service provided 865 advices to clients. financial abuse accounted for 39 per cent (439 clients) of advices given, making it the most prevalent type of abuse. emotional/psychological abuse was the next most prevalent type of abuse at 37 per cent (408 clients). physical abuse made up 13 per cent (142 clients) of advices given, and neglect made up 3 per cent (36 clients). A client may experience more than one type of abuse.

“ The staff were lovely, caring and helpful. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”

Advocacy & legal service

Seniors Rights Legal Clinics

Total

New cases 117 146 263

Cases closed 134 83 217

CASES BY PROBLEM TYPE

46%

35%

10% 9%

Other

Physical abusePsychological abuse

Financial abuse

TOTAL CASES OPENED AND CLOSED


CASeWoRKif a client requires further assistance after receiving advice then a case is opened. Casework may be delivered either by the advocacy and legal service, or by the Seniors Rights Legal Clinics.

Advocacy and Legal Service CaseworkSeniors Rights Victoria clients are often dealing with complex, multifaceted situations with overlapping issues and problem types. This is reflected in the disparity between the number of cases and the number of problem types. Cases involving financial abuse were the most common constituting 46 per cent (67) of problem types, followed by psychological abuse at 35 per cent (50). While they are counted separately, our experience shows that psychological abuse is a major component of the financial abuse experienced by many older people.

Seniors Rights Legal Clinics CaseworkSeniors Rights Legal Clinics work with up to 24 clients per month. The Clinics assist people who are experiencing or at risk of elder abuse or who have another legal issue associated with ageing, such as simple wills, guardianship and administration, property and housing and debt matters.

The elder abuse matters seen by the Seniors Rights Legal Clinics primarily concerned property and debt issues, in particular where clients had sold their home and given the proceeds to adult children in return for a promise of care.

in many of these cases, the alleged transactions were undocumented and took place many years prior, making it extremely difficult to gather sufficient evidence to bring proceedings to recover the funds. Where proceedings can be initiated, they may be protracted and extremely stressful for clients, particularly in cases involving a family member.

“ From the first person who answered my phone call, I felt I was dealing with people who knew what I was going through and had the information I needed to know. I was absolutely blown away by the service I received.”


definitionS of eLdeR ABuSeForms oF elder abuse:

Financial abuseusing someone’s money, property or other assets illegally or improperly. for example, forcing someone to change their will or sign documents.

Emotional or psychological abuseusing threats, humiliation or harassment causing anguish and feelings of shame or powerlessness. it often occurs in combination with other forms of abuse.

Physical abuseinflicting pain or injury. for example, hitting, slapping, pushing or using restraints.

Sexual abuseAny sexual activity for which the person has not consented.

Social abusepreventing contact with relatives, friends or service providers, or restricting activities.

Neglectfailing to provide the basic necessities of life, either intentionally or unintentionally.


CASe StudieS

CASe StudY 1

Family violence/physical & psychological abuse of older person

Beth lives in her own home with Stan. Beth is 73 years old and Stan is in his mid-40s. Stan is Beth’s son and only child. Beth’s husband died many years ago. Stan does not pay Beth any rent and is sometimes abusive towards her. Stan is an alcoholic and when he drinks he often screams at her, telling her she is demented and needs to go into a nursing home. He controls what she does in the house. for example, he won’t let her watch television when she likes and he dictates when she should eat her meals. Sometimes Stan hits Beth. despite all of this, Beth relies on Stan to take her to the doctor and to help her with shopping and general household tasks as she has a number of health related problems. Beth also enjoys Stan’s company when he is not drinking and she feels responsible for his welfare. Beth is afraid that without him in her life she would be alone and for these reasons, she wants to preserve some kind of relationship with her son.

Her doctor told her about Seniors Rights Victoria after she confided in him about her home life. A lawyer and a non-legal advocate visited Beth at her home on the outskirts of Melbourne as she could not make it to the office. The service worked with Beth to inform her of her rights and advise her of her legal options. Beth did not want to proceed with a family violence intervention order, even if Stan could remain in the home.

The advocate worked with Beth to do a safety plan and with Beth’s consent, liaised with other agencies to assist with homecare including shopping, personal care, transport to medical appointments and linkages into social activities within the community. These supports alleviated Beth’s reliance on her son for day-to-day activities and assisted her to regain her independence. Seniors Rights Victoria also referred Beth to a drug and alcohol counselling service and support group for families. over time, Beth felt confident and supported enough to ask her son to leave. Seniors Rights Victoria advocated on her behalf to do this. non-legal advocates also assisted with referrals for housing supports for Stan.

In this case study we see how our service’s multidisciplinary approach helps to address the needs of clients. This is a common scenario Seniors Rights Victoria staff encounter. Quite often the client does not wish to take legal action against their abusive adult child and instead wants staff to assist the adult child directly. Although Seniors Rights Victoria staff do not work with the adult child directly, they are committed to working with the client to achieve an outcome that best suits them, while all the time addressing the safety needs of the client.


CASe StudY 2

Financial abuse

Rosa’s son Mark was living in Melbourne with his wife and suggested that Rosa move to live with them in their home. She sold her interstate home and many of her belongings and used what she had left over from the sale of her home to build an extension on her son’s property where she could live. Rosa did not receive independent legal advice about this arrangement. Her name was not put onto the title of Mark’s property and there was no agreement in place about the details of what Rosa would receive in exchange for the improvement she had made to the property.

Mark and his family were very busy and Rosa was left to herself. it was challenging being in a new city. She found herself to be very lonely. Her relationship with her son and his family deteriorated over time.

nearly a year ago, Mark lost some investments that he had been relying on and they were struggling to meet their mortgage repayments. Six months later Mark told Rosa that they had to sell the property and downsize and there would be no room in the new house for Rosa. They refused to repay more than Rosa’s initial investment in the property even though Rosa had spent that amount 15 years before and the property had appreciated greatly in value over that time.

Rosa engaged the assistance of Seniors Rights Victoria together with advice from a barrister through the Victorian Bar pro Bono Scheme. A caveat was lodged on the title of Mark’s house. Mark and his wife had to negotiate with Rosa to have the caveat removed before the house could be sold. As a result of the negotiations, Rosa received enough money from the sale of the property to secure an independent living unit. The unit had been found with the assistance of Seniors Rights Victoria and a community housing organisation.

Rosa is happy in the new unit, particularly as she was able to stay in the same neighbourhood and keep her cat. She hopes to be able to rebuild her relationship with her son and his family over time.

CASe StudieS

This case study highlights the need for older clients to obtain independent legal advice before considering disposing their major asset in exchange for care and accommodation as relationships may sometimes break down and the older client is left with no money for their future. It is also very difficult for the client to recover money that they had previously invested.


CoMMunitY eduCAtion The Community education program delivered 83 sessions across Victoria to 2 551 participants. of these, 17 sessions were delivered with the assistance of interpreters to 503 participants and 24 sessions were delivered to 925 participants in regional and rural Victoria. numbers were lower than 2010/11 due to the cessation of the elder abuse projects in a number of primary Care partnerships across Victoria.

The Seniors Rights Victoria Volunteer public Speaking group was instrumental in the delivery of so many community education sessions. A group of seven volunteers, most of whom have been involved with the Community education program since the first induction of volunteers, have extended their depth of knowledge on elder abuse and added to their public presentation skills.

A highlight of the year was the development of culturally relevant sessions for the Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association and the elders of the gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative.

The Gunditjmara Projectgunditjmara are an Australian indigenous group from Western Victoria. They are traditionally river and lake people. gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative has two sites in Warrnambool.

glenda Thompson the Aged Services Manager at the gunditjmara Aboriginal project and Wendy Jones from the elder Abuse prevention project of the South West primary Care partnership approached Seniors Rights Victoria to develop an education program on elder abuse.

gary ferguson, the Community education Coordinator from Seniors Rights Victoria, consulted with glenda and other staff from the gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative to ensure

the education program was culturally relevant and incorporated their objectives. As many staff and elders as possible were involved to allow a greater potential of awareness raising in the community.

An interactive and discussion-based professional education session was delivered to a cross section of staff from gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative. during the session, input was gained for the development of a pamphlet on elder abuse, which will be an ongoing part of the relationship.

Community education was more of an informal discussion, a ‘yarn’, over lunch with the elders from the community. The involvement of gunditjmara staff in the lunch was critical, as the trust between staff and elders assisted in the delivery of the key messages.

While there is little data about elder abuse in Aboriginal communities, there is no evidence that it is more prevalent than in other communities in Australia. This education program is seen as the first part of a preventative program within the community and will possibly build a ‘champion’ model for other Aboriginal communities in Victoria.

“ The community educator was brilliant, really knew his stuff. There wasn’t a question he couldn’t answer.”


CoMMunitY LegAL eduCAtion

pRofeSSionAL infoRMAtion

tabitha o’Shea, the Seniors Rights Victoria lawyer based in Bendigo, presented a variety of well-attended legal education and information sessions to the community. These included a number of presentations on the topic of Wills and enduring powers of Attorney in Melbourne, Shepparton and Bendigo.

The Melbourne presentation was delivered as part of the 2011 Seniors festival. The 60 attendees also received a free copy of the ‘take Control’ Kit published by the office of the public Advocate and Victoria Legal Aid. in Shepparton, the topic was covered as part of a session on elder abuse, which was supported by the local Commonwealth Community Carelink office.

in Bendigo, as part of Law Week 2012, a morning tea was followed by a presentation on enduring powers of Attorney and Wills. This was coordinated and delivered by the Bendigo office of Seniors Rights Victoria. Another session was

delivered in Melbourne on Boomerang Kids – Adult Children Returning Home, which covered mediation, legal options and available community support.

Sessions were also held on the Assets for Care guide; with author Louise Kyle joining SRV colleagues Carol Stuart and Anita Koochew, for a presentation for Victoria Legal Aid in Melbourne and pairing with tabitha o’Shea to present a Community Legal education session on the guide in Bendigo.

in addition to the Community Legal education, sessions were delivered to 30 staff of Castlemaine Health and 20 staff of Bendigo Health on advanced health care directives, enduring powers of Attorney, Wills, indicators of elder abuse and legal issues for health care professionals.

professional information sessions were delivered by Seniors Rights Victoria staff to a wide range of professionals across the government and community sectors, including:• Health and Community Care• Community Aged Care package providers• Community health services and networks• Aged Care Assessment Services• Aged psychiatry Assessment and treatment

teams• primary and acute care services• Allied health providers• Aged care providers• Multicultural service providers.

professional information sessions were presented to 925 individuals at 32 sessions (21 in Melbourne and suburbs, 11 in regional Victoria). one of the metropolitan sessions was delivered to the Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association with the assistance of an interpreter.

in early 2011 Victoria university and SRV collaborated to produce a dVd about Seniors Rights Victoria that now forms part of one of the Victoria university Workshops on elder abuse prevention for service providers.

in 2012 Victoria university undertook the production of a second dVd on elder Abuse prevention. This dVd follows up scenarios introduced in the first dVd and is aimed at those workers in a position to respond to reports of elder abuse. The dVd highlights the ways agencies might employ best practice methods in dealing with the sensitive issue of elder abuse and explores how support from a variety of agencies can help those experiencing abuse. The vital role that Seniors Rights Victoria plays in the area of elder abuse prevention is also a key message of the dVd.

Seniors Rights Victoria was heavily involved in the production of this dVd. A number of SRV staff appear in the final dVd and staff were instrumental in the script development and assisted with the final editing of the dVd.

The dVd has been released for training purposes across the state and feedback has been extremely positive.


CoMMuniCAtionS Jackie Jenkins commenced in January 2012 as the new Communications project Worker. This position replaced the Service promotion position vacated by Jenny Lord in September 2011. prior to her departure, Jenny’s achievements included producing a blog on the topic of ‘ageism’ for the Human Rights Action plan website and developing a policy on using de-identified case studies for research and policy purposes.

The main achievements by Jackie in the new part-time position included: compiling an audit

of existing elder abuse information resources with a view to identifying and meeting any gaps, keeping the Seniors Rights Victoria website up to date, producing the ‘Rebuilding Confidence’ e-newsletter and general service promotion and community awareness raising.

A major focus of the communication role was on World elder Abuse Awareness day, June 15. good media coverage was achieved, including various articles and interviews in print and on radio.

LegAL eduCAtion pRoJeCt

The Legal education project is a 20-month project funded by the Legal Services Board to publish a suite of resources aimed at addressing financial abuse. As the most prevalent form of elder abuse, financial abuse most commonly manifests as financial loss arising from the disposal of assets in exchange for promises of future care and accommodation. A common example is when an older parent sells their home; using the proceeds to build themselves a bungalow on their adult child’s property, with the expectation of future care.

The project is responsible for producing three publications:1. A guide for lawyers to assist older clients at risk

of elder abuse. Assets for Care, was launched in June 2012 and is available online through the SRV website.

2. A guide for older people – Money, ageing and family relationships. This guide will be launched and widely distributed in november 2012. it will also be available online.

3. A research paper identifying areas of law and policy reform. The paper will propose changes that, if introduced, could reduce the systemic complexities and impediments that currently hamper older people’s ability to protect themselves and be more appropriately assisted.

each publication to date has been widely circulated and test read to maximise its usefulness.

A great positive for this project has been the high level of engagement of the many people approached for input. from Centrelink information officers to Supreme Court judges, barristers to mediators, academics to housing advocates, ethnic agency workers to lawyers’ practice committees, planned activity groups to professional editors. Their involvement clearly recognises the seriousness of this issue.

Special thanks to the members of the reference group for their skill and expertise and our Steering Committee members: Jenny Blakey, david davis, Belinda evans, dr Susan feldman, Kate Ling, Sandra McCullough, and Mary Milsom.


WoRLd eLdeR ABuSe AWAReneSS dAY

June 15 is the annual day to raise awareness of elder abuse throughout the world. it is a day to bring elder abuse out from behind closed doors; to say “no” to elder abuse and to let older people in our communities know they have the right to live without fear and abuse.

World elder Abuse Awareness day 2012 was commemorated with an array of events and activities across metropolitan and regional Victoria. A range of successful awareness raising events was held in collaboration with diverse organisations.

melbourne

City of Monash Protecting Your Rights Luncheon fifty seniors, wearing purple ribbons, attended a presentation on elder abuse and enduring powers of Attorney followed by lunch at the City of Monash. The event was part of the Monash City Council’s positive Ageing Lifestyles (pALS) program, coordinated by Stacey faletoese.

on World elder Abuse Awareness day, Ken Humphries and gary ferguson from Seniors Rights Victoria gave a presentation entitled Protecting Your Rights.

Local government plays an important role in seniors’ lives by providing aged services such as in home support.

Launch of Assets for Care – a guide for lawyers to assist clients at risk of financial abuse on 14 June, the eve of World elder Abuse Awareness day, the 19th Century Victorian Supreme Court Library provided a stately setting for the launch of a new elder abuse resource. Assets for Care: a guide for lawyers to assist clients at risk of financial abuse aims to help lawyers detect financial abuse, identify protective action and remedy abuse which is occurring.

The Chief Justice Marilyn Warren AC launched the guide, saying how important it was to have a

resource such as Assets for Care to assist lawyers in their work with seniors and describing it as a “superb publication”.

The Victorian Attorney general, The Hon Robert Clark and the former financial Services ombudsman, Mr Colin neave also spoke at the event, adding further acknowledgement of the seriousness with which this issue is coming to be viewed by the community.

The launch provided an opportunity to thank those who provided valuable input into its development, including barristers, solicitors, other advocates, judges, practitioners Liability Committee representatives, writers, editors and staff from Seniors Rights Victoria.

The production of the guide was funded by the Victorian Legal Services Board. The guide is available online from www.seniorsrights.org.au/assetsforcare or a hard copy can be ordered by calling (03) 9655 2129.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Forum: Cross Cultural Perspectives in Elder AbuseAunty Winifred Bridges, a Wurundjeri elder, performed a welcome to country for those attending the World elder Abuse Awareness day forum in Melbourne, Australia. The theme for the 2012 forum was Cross Cultural perspectives in elder Abuse.

The forum was officially opened by the Victorian Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr david davis, who released the government’s Elder abuse prevention and response guidelines for action 2012–14. The guidelines were informed by the elder Abuse prevention Advisory group, chaired by the parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mr nick Wakeling, who also attended the forum.Victorian Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr David Davis, and Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mr Nick Wakeling (photo Anita Koochew)

Keynote speakers were Ms Ljubica petrov from the Centre for Cultural diversity in Ageing, who


spoke on Australia’s ageing ethnic population, and Ms deborah deacon from Aboriginal Community elder Services, who spoke on Australia’s ageing indigenous populations. Both speakers highlighted some of the challenges for governments, organisations and service providers in working with these ageing populations.

Ms Marion Lau oAM Jp and Ms Kate Ling, from the ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, presented on a new elder Abuse project working with six culturally diverse communities over three years.

The gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative, the South West primary Care partnership and Seniors Rights Victoria presented together on a community-based education program that was delivered to staff and elders of the gunditjmara community.

following the presentations, Maria dimopoulos, forum facilitator, led a panel discussion examining some of the challenges in working with seniors from different cultures and highlighting ways in which organisations and service providers could be more inclusive.

City of Frankston Walk for Action and ConcertThe Seniors Rights Walk for Action and Concert were among the largest World elder Abuse Awareness day events held in the state, thanks to the lead role taken by frankston City Council.

fifty people wearing purple completed a two kilometre walk in Seaford. They were joined by the Mayor, Cr Brian Cunial; Wayne taylor, police Superintendent for the Southern Metropolitan division; and police officers from frankston police Station.

Ken Humphries, a Volunteer Public Speaker, with Noeline Brown, Ambassador for Ageing, at the 2012 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Concert in Frankston

This was followed by a free World elder Abuse Awareness day luncheon and concert hosted by Mayor Cr Brian Cunial and attended by over 120 residents. noeline Brown, an Australian Ambassador for Ageing and well known comedienne, delivered an inspirational speech about ageing positively. Ken Humphries, from

Seniors Rights Victoria, gave an informative and engaging presentation on elder abuse, which was described as a highlight of the event. entertainment was provided by the Mason Brothers.

bendigo

Tree Planting and Morning Tea with Sue Pieters-Hawke.A crowd gathered to witness the Mayor of the City of greater Bendigo, Cr Alec Sandner, turn the first sod of dirt to plant Bendigo’s World elder Abuse Awareness day tree, a luscious ‘Black tulip’ Magnolia tree. uncle Brien nelson, a Jarra Jarra elder, performed a welcome to country prior to the tree planting ceremony in the Bendigo Civic gardens.

The planting of this magnificent tree in a central public area in Bendigo is intended to create an ongoing awareness of elder abuse and signify that it is unacceptable. After the tree was planted the Mayor unveiled a plaque recognising and celebrating the contribution of seniors to the Bendigo community.

left to right: Uncle Brien Nelson (Jarra Jarra Elder), Mayor, Cr Alec Sandner & Tabitha O’Shea.

people were then invited to take a purple cut-out figure and place them in the ground near the tree, to represent their commitment to eliminating elder abuse and creating a safer world for seniors.

Around 80 people then attended a morning tea at Bendigo town Hall. Local radio announcer Jonathan Ridnell hosted the event. Keynote guest speaker Sue pieters-Hawke, daughter of Hazel Hawke and the former Australian prime Minister Bob Hawke, gave a rousing talk on A Positive Approach to Healthy Ageing.

tabitha o’Shea, Seniors Rights Victoria Solicitor, gave an overview on elder abuse and spoke about the services and resources provided locally and statewide. Luke Bennett, State trustees Regional Services Manager, announced the opening of a State trustees office in Bendigo. A special World

Top: Bendigo WEAAD tram. Top right: The ‘Black Tulip’ magnolia. Right: Sue-Pieters Hawke (centre) with Elaine Harrington (left) and Tabitha O’Shea (right).


LAW RefoRM And SYSteMiC AdVoCACY

Elder abuse prevention and response guidelines for action 2012–14As a member of the elder Abuse prevention and Response Advisory group, Seniors Rights Victoria contributed to this significant state government policy statement. The guidelines set out priority actions and outcomes for government and non-government partners in preventing and responding to elder abuse.

four key strategic outcomes were specified:1. increased community awareness of elder abuse2. empowerment of older people3. Active engagement by professionals4. Coordinated multi-agency support by relevant

services to older people

These guidelines provide an excellent foundation for tackling elder abuse. Seniors Rights Victoria is named as a key organisation in many of the actions; signalling an exciting and challenging time ahead.

GuardianshipThe Victorian Law Reform Commission report on Victoria’s guardianship laws was tabled in parliament on 18 April 2012. The Seniors Rights Victoria submission (from early 2011) was cited 62 times and most of the recommendations were adopted by the Commission. The government response to the report is expected later in 2012.

The core recommendation of the Seniors Rights Victoria submission was that the goal of guardianship legislation should be for the represented person to continue to live the life that they would have lived and for decisions to be made

as they would have been made by the person but for their incapacity. Key means of achieving this goal include provision for supported decision making by older people, greater participation of Victorians in guardianship proceedings, increased accountability of substitute decision makers and improved community education.

Older people and ParticipationSeniors Rights Victoria was invited to submit to the parliamentary inquiry into opportunities for participation by Senior Victorians. The submission explained the barriers to participation contributing to elder abuse and the consequences of elder abuse inhibiting participation in the community. The issues raised were ageism, lack of housing, social isolation, isolation due to poverty or reduced finances, language and culture, capacity and guardianship and powers of attorney arrangements.

VEOHRC and older peopleSeniors Rights Victoria contributed to the development of, and participated in, a forum organised by the Victorian equal opportunity Human Rights Commission to address the Rights of older people.

Justice and people with an Intellectual disability and their families Seniors Rights Victoria presented a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission inquiry into access to, and interaction with, the justice system by people with an intellectual disability and their families and carers.

elder Abuse Awareness day cake was then cut by Sue pieters-Hawke and enjoyed by all present.

The day was an overwhelming success due to the partnerships forged and the support received from major sponsor State trustees as well as financial and in-kind support from Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centres, Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre, City of greater Bendigo, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee and Hotel Shamrock. The dedication of a committed working group of local people facilitated by elaine Harrington from the Seniors Rights Victoria Bendigo Regional office also helped to ensure the day was enjoyable and informative for everyone who participated.


MAnAgeMent CoMMittee And StAff

CoLLABoRAtion

Management CommitteeAlex Mactier (to dec 11) Mitzi gilligan Janet Wood Leonie Burnham Michael Smith peter noble fiona McLeay Sue Hendy/david Craig ex–officio, Jenny Blakey (Manager)

Staff Jenny Blakey Managerelizabeth Samra principal Solicitor

(Mat leave Mar 11 to Mar 12)Helena Xenidis Acting principal Solicitor

(May 11 to Jan 12)Renee Wilson Acting principal Solicitor

(Jan to Mar 12)Carol Stuart Community Lawyer

(from Apr 12)

Anita Koochew Community Lawyertabitha o’Shea Community Lawyer, Bendigogary ferguson Community education

Coordinatorphilippa Campbell Advocacy CoordinatorHazel ingram Advocate (to Sep 11)Cory Saunders Advocate (oct 11 to May 12)Stacey van dueren SRV Helplineelaine Harrington Administration Worker,

BendigoLibby Jamieson Administration Worker Jennifer Lord Service promotion

(to Sep 11)Louise Kyle Legal project WorkerJackie Jenkins Communications project

Worker (from Jan 12)fiona York Referrals pathways project

(from Jun 12)

Seniors Rights Victoria collaborates with a variety of organisations, networks and services, to raise awareness of elder abuse issues, identify ways for organisations to work together to combat elder abuse, and to maintain and advance the rights of older Victorians.

Our partners in governance and service delivery: • CotA Victoria• eastern Community Legal Centre• Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre• public interest Law Clearing Housing

Other partners: • Victoria university • Victoria primary Care partnerships • elder Rights Advocacy• dispute Settlement Centre Victoria

• national Association of Community Legal Centres older persons and the Law Working group

• Australian network for the prevention of elder Abuse

• federation of Community Legal Centres older persons Law task group

• Law institute of Victoria elder Law Committee • family Violence Statewide Advisory Committee • office of the public Advocate • Victoria police • ethnic Communities Council of Victoria • Alzheimer’s Association of Victoria • Aged Care Assessment teams • Carers Victoria • gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative

The submission focused on the broader issue of how disabilities other than intellectual disabilities; for example cognitive impairment, neurological condition or acquired brain injury; impacts on a

person’s interaction with the justice system. Seniors Rights Victoria recommended reforms in relation to court processes and practices and police responses.


finAnCiAL StAteMentS

ACKnoWLedgeMentS

Audited financial statements for the relevant financial year are available on request.

please contact Seniors Rights Victoria on (03) 9655 2129.

Thank you to our funders: Seniors programs and participation, Ageing and Aged Care Branch department of Health; Victoria Legal Aid; and the federal Attorney-general’s department.

Seniors Rights Victoria appreciates the support of:• Victorian Legal Services Board • the volunteers• norton Rose• Hall & Wilcox• Herbert geer• Holding Redlich • Lander & Rogers

Thanks also to:• Jen Scantlebury (Cocoon Consulting) and Jackie

Moden (Jackie Moden Consulting) for facilitating the development of our strategic and operational plan

• Rachel Cohen for developing our Resource Library

• John Morgan from datascape for developing our client data and management system

• Jenny Lord from double J for writing and editing

Address: Level 4, 98 elizabeth St Melbourne 3000 phone Administration: (03) 9655 2129 SRV Helpline: 1300 368 821 www.seniorsrights.org.auemail: [email protected]

Documents

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