Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General. At least one in six older people report experiencing elder abuse and neglect—financial, familial, psychological and physical. There has been no national plan to address this since 2023. When will the government release the new national plan to respond to the abuse of older Australians to deal with this crisis?

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question on a topic that is not discussed enough in our society and, I think, in our political discourse. I thank her particularly for going to the issue of the national plan for elder abuse. I can assure the member that work on that is underway. I will be in a position to make announcements on how that is progressing in the near future, but I will say two things.

Firstly, elder abuse needs to be understood for what it is. It is insidious, it is often unseen and, unfortunately, it too often happens at the hands of relatives. We are now in a position where we understand the data much more fully, and that is a role that this government and this portfolio have been fulfilling, and it is one that is informing our policy processes going forward.

Secondly, as the member will be well aware, elder abuse is also addressed at a state level, and the need to have coordination in that context is vitally important. I can assure the member that this is an item that is being discussed at the Standing Council of Attorneys-General, which I chair, and we had our meeting only a few weeks ago. I thank the member very sincerely for her interest. I will engage with the member as we lead up in this process, and, of course, my door is always open for other members who wish to engage as well.