Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday, 15 June, I was lucky enough to be in the city heart of Townville to watch the Respect for Seniors March for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The 1 RAR band led the way and was followed by a march of an army of the city's seniors, proudly marching behind the banners. They started at Flinders Street outside the Cowboys Leagues Club and marched down to Stanley Street, up to Walker Street and into the council forecourt. They were met there by Townsville mayor Jenny Hill, state MPs John Hathaway and Sam Cox and a healthy band of well wishers. They wore red shirts emblazoned with 'Seniors Creating Change'. For your benefit, Deputy Speaker Scott, I will show you a photograph of some of them. Mayor Jenny Hill spoke to the group and proclaimed 15 June as Townsville Elder Abuse Awareness Day and asked for everyone's commitment to build safer communities for our seniors. Jenny spoke on behalf of the city when she said, and I quote:

We are concerned about older residents who suffer from or are at risk of neglect, or who are the victims of financial, psychological, social, physical or sexual abuse.

Jenny summed up the mood pretty well when she stated:

Townsville's seniors are valued members of our society and are often the quiet achievers of our community. They take time out to volunteer in many organisations as well as caring for a new generation. It is our collective responsibility as a community to ensure that they live safely and with dignity.

Anna Cody, the senior legal and support services officer at the Townsville community legal service, TCLS, spoke and what she said was spine chilling. She said that they know that 27,000 seniors in Queensland will experience elder abuse each year and that a majority of this abuse will include financial abuse. Based on the statistics they have collected, they know that seniors in Townsville who have sought help from them in the last five years have lost an estimated $15 million as a result of financial abuse. The sad part was that Anna noted that they knew that this financial abuse did not occur in a vacuum and almost always they will also experience psychological or physical abuse—and even homelessness.

The 'Red Shirt Brigade', my friends, then struck up a song—and for the benefit of Hansard and most people here, I will not sing it. The tune was When theSaints Go Marching Inand the key lines were as follows: that the seniors could create change themselves; that seniors deserve respect; that we as a community and political leaders have to listen to our seniors and actually care about them; that all they want is to live with dignity and not just be part of the economy; that they want to be safe in their own homes; that they want to walk safely in the evening; and that those who have fallen on hard times are treated right and fair; that they want to live sustainably and not be belted by big business and cruel taxes. They also sang Glenn Campbell's Try a Little Kindness, and if there is any time left I will burst into that.

I spoke with a couple of the guys from the TCLS. They are feeling the pinch with reduced funding. They are a great service for our city and they understand the needs of their client base. Being a legal service, they are acutely aware of time. My solicitor charges me by the hour in six-minute lots and parts thereof. The issue when dealing with seniors is that there has to be a duty of care in meeting their needs. It cannot be done hard and fast. There are background issues which need to be sorted out first before they can discuss their main concern. There has to be a more pastoral role played by the people at TCLS to find out the real needs and deal with them. That costs time and they are time poor. But they do it because it matters. I want to take this opportunity to give my full support to the TCLS and all its ancillary services. They will lose a staff member on 1 July when the funding for their financial adviser is withdrawn. This person dealt with the serious debt issues and harsh consequences facing many people in Townsville now. I know that I have the support of the Shadow Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis, on this matter. Senator Brandis has made representations previously without success for the support of the TCLS.

Where to from here? Anna Cody referenced the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children from 2010-2022, the Respect for Seniors Campaign launched in 2009 in New South Wales and Queensland's own 'Act as one against elder abuse' campaign for most of her points. Point 1 was advocacy. Everyone everywhere can advocate on behalf of seniors by recognising their human rights, which include their right to respect, dignity, equality, support and in particular make their own decisions. Point 2 was social isolation. This issue increases the risk of elder abuse. Factors such as the lack of access to public transport, being culturally and linguistically different, ageism, discrimination and racism all contribute to social isolation. Programs such as Men's Sheds, older women's networks and the Seniors Creating Change group are all important, for they provide social participation, communication, information and stronger community support. Point 3 was screening. This assists with the detection of elder abuse. Screening relies on community members recognising the signs, symptoms, behaviours and attitudes of those who may be at risk so that that action can be taken. Point 4: active service and wellness approach. As I explained, in Australia there was a slow shift away from the traditional dependency type model of care for seniors, towards the provision of the active service model of care, which is centred on the individual. That means that the aged-care providers can assist seniors to remain in their homes and community, resulting in better quality of life, rather than moving into aged care where the majority of the decisions are made for them.

What seniors are most concerned about is a loss of independence, social isolation and their transition to aged care and as a society we must address these issues. The member for Mackellar, the Hon. Bronwyn Bishop, speaks of ageism as being as vile as racism and sexism. It is something that, until you are faced with it, you do not know it exists. But as soon as you are shown what actually happens, what it actually looks like, smells like and feels like, you become acutely aware of its consequences. That someone would abuse an elder, and most probably a family member, for money is abhorrent to all of sound mind. That it is so prevalent is mind-boggling. That it can happen in any family is a huge concern to me. My mum and dad still live in Brisbane in the family home. They are both in great shape. I am one of three boys in our family and we are still very scared of incurring my mother's wrath. I would never imagine being the person who abused her to get money. I could never imagine being the person who would physically and psychologically abuse my mum and dad in any way. That this is a modern phenomenon should not surprise.

The known demographer Bernard Salt spoke at a conference I attended. He said that the pension used to kick in, as it always kicked in, at 65 but the life expectancy of the Australian male was 62. So you were actually dead for three years before you even got the pension. He asked us to look at photos of our grandparents when they were 50. They were already old people. We now see more and more people turning 100 and celebrating diamond wedding anniversaries. We see our parents trying to cope with being in the new territory of self-funded retirees and the problems that brings with interest rates and inflation and new taxes. We see them trying to make their money last and have a quality of life for which they worked and richly deserve. It is not enough for any of us in this place or in our community to accept that there is elder abuse happening under our noses. In Queensland alone it is estimated that seniors lose over $100 million each and every year. The problem for our seniors is that legal remedies are often too expensive, stressful and time consuming and, when you couple that with not seeing the grandchildren ever again if they do speak, then you have that perfect storm.

Seniors sometimes say something like, 'You feel like people are pushing you. They think because you are old that they have to make the decisions for you as they know what is right for you.' Or 'People just don't listen to you; young people simply do not respect older people.' Or 'Young people think they can bully older people and discriminate against them.'

Sometimes I hear someone say, 'I'm too scared to go out after dark. I'm scared inside my own home. I'm too scared to even go for a walk.' For them to say these things is just wrong. I call on all of us in this place to do our bit and stop elder abuse. I call on every Australian to do the right thing by their elders and simply treat them with the respect they deserve. We as a community need to have this conversation. It is not just about seniors; it is about engaging everyone—families, mums, dads, kids, school students, principals, everyone in the community—to raise awareness of this serious issue and having the discussion about how we as a community can ensure that elder abuse does not continue. We must stamp it out now. We are a great country and my city of Townsville is a great city. We are an aspirational society. All I ask it that we as Australians, as Townsvillians and Queenslanders, act like it.