By Michael Doran
On 19 March, Attorney-General Christian Porter launched ‘The national plan to respond to the abuse of older Australians’ and announced the first key initiatives as part of an $18 million funding package.
The funding will be used for national trials of frontline services designed to support older people who are victims of abuse. Three types of specialist support services have been identified for trialling; specialist elder abuse units, health-justice partnerships and case management and mediation services.
Under the plan, Eastern Health and Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) will implement a Health Justice Partnership, which will see a healthcare team working alongside lawyers and financial counsellors to provide a comprehensive approach to combat elder abuse.
Eastern Health Executive Director, Clinical Operations Shannon Wight said Eastern Health has a crucial role to play to work with older people who are experiencing or are at risk of abuse.
“The proposed health justice partnership ensures that our health service builds on work already underway within Eastern Health to better identify and respond to older people experiencing abuse, while maintaining their right to make choices about how their safety is protected,” she said.
ECLC CEO Michael Smith said that there was a growing concern about elder abuse and the new project will build on the work of the existing Eastern Elder Abuse Network.
“While ECLC has provided free legal advice and other resources for the past decade to help prevent elder abuse in the community, this funding will enable us and Eastern Health to identify and respond to elder abuse as early as possible.”
The Healesville Indigenous Community Services Association will join with Eastern Health and ECLC to work with police, seniors rights advocates, community health providers, aged care providers, the Office of the Public Advocate and governments to deliver integrated services to older people in the eastern region of Melbourne.
The partnership is one of 12 services funded across Australia under the national plan with details at www.easternhealth.org.au or www.eclc.org.au
