The Everybody’s Business Elder Abuse Prevention Network works in partnership with organisations and community groups across South West Victoria with the aim of preventing elder abuse from happening in the first place. This network is funded by the Victorian State Government and coordinated by Carer Connect.
For more information about this network or to find out how you or your organisation can become a member please contact the Elder Abuse Prevention Project Worker on 5561 8111 (MPower Inc.)
Elder abuse is any act that causes harm to an older person and is carried out by someone they trust such as family, friend, or carer. It is a form of family violence with 92% of abuse perpetrators related or in a de facto relationship with the victim, and 66.8% being an adult child of the victim.
Unlike other forms of family violence the perpetrators are more evenly spread across gender lines with 60% male and 40% female. (seniorsrights.org.au/your-rights/) Elder abuse can be physical, emotional (psychological), sexual, and financial. It can be social in which the victim is purposefully isolated from family, friends, and even services. Neglect, intentional or unintentional, is a form of elder abuse too.
Financial abuse and psychological (emotional) abuse are the most commonly reported forms of elder abuse by older Victorians with these two types of abuse often going hand in hand. (seniorsrights.org.au/your-rights/; Summary Report Profile of Elder Abuse In Victoria June 2015)
If you have concerns for you or someone you know talk to your doctor or a trusted friend. You can also call Seniors Rights Victoria’s confidential helpline: 10 am – 5 pm Mon – Fri: 1300 369 821
If someone is in immediate danger call 000.
The Warm Safe Home Project is an elder abuse prevention activity. It uses art and story to start conversations about the right of older people to be safe in their homes. Elder abuse prevention is about creating conditions that ensure that older people are respected and cared for, that they are safe from violence, and live free from fear. These simple and clear aims require us to understand the different beliefs, circumstances, and social conditions that enable elder abuse to happen. The Warm Safe Home project uses the home as a starting point for the conversations that build this understanding and help us to work together to create a world without elder abuse.
Thousands of little houses have been made by community members of all ages across Victoria and around the globe to talk about what a warm safe home means, and to spread the message that: Everyone, at every age, has the right to a warm safe home.
A free digital version of the Warm Safe Home Kit can be downloaded here: link/tile for PDF
For more information or for a hardcopy of this kit contact the Elder Abuse Prevention Project Worker on 5561 8111 (MPower Inc.)
The Everybody’s Business Elder Abuse Prevention Network operates on the lands of the Dhauwurd Wurrung, Wooloo Woorroong, Djab Wurran, Kee Woorrong, Kornkopanoot, Peek Whurrong, Keerray-Woorroong, Wirngilgnans Dhalinanong.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of these lands and pay respect to elders past, present, and emerging.
We strive to walk together in kindness and compassion to care for all of our elders and the lands that sustain us.
Presented by the Everybody's Business Elder Abuse Prevention Network. This webinar builds understanding about the role of local government in enabling and advocating for the conditions that ensure that the rights of older people are respected, their voices are heard, and their participation in community life if supported.
This forum highlights a range of factors that impact the rights and dignity of older people. It helps community members and professionals to identify and prevent elder abuse, and to increase understanding of the role of different service providers in responding to elder abuse.
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