Introduction
Introduction
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms ‘older people’ and ‘seniors’ refer to people over the age of 60 years old.
This chapter covers the following topics:
- elder abuse including situations with the potential for financial abuse: – transferring property or assets in exchange for care, – loans and gifts, – the use of funds without authority or in excess of authority, – the misuse of powers of attorney, – fraud or pressure to sign documents, – sharing a home with an adult child;
- age discrimination;
- grandparents’ access to grandchildren. Currently in Victoria, 1.45 million people are aged over 60, which is more than 22 per cent of the population (ABS, Census, 2021). By 2031, our older population is due to comprise 22 per cent of the population in Melbourne and 31 per cent in regional and rural Victoria. Across Australia, the number of people aged 65 and over is expected to more than double from 3.8 million to 8.8 million in the next 25 years. The increasingly older age profile of the Australian population makes it particularly important to address elder abuse effectively. Older people are highly diverse: 41 per cent of Victorians aged over 65 – and 46 per cent of those aged over 85 – were born overseas (ABS 2017). While ageing provides people with opportunities and options, Victoria’s diverse older population can also be affected by numerous legal issues, some of which are unique to them. This chapter provides information on legal issues that are either unique to this population group or tend to disproportionally impact older people. Many of the other topics in this book are also relevant to older people. While the following topics are most common among older people, they are not covered in this chapter:
- residential aged care;
- home care packages and support;
- retirement villages.
