How Geelong housing, pandemic is increasing elder abuse rates

Soaring rates of elder abuse statewide have triggered alarm bells for support services, who say technology, rental prices and the pandemic shutdowns have made an already growing problem much worse.

Increased Geelong housing costs could be contributing to a shocking rise in elder abuse across the region, according to a Victorian non-profit.

The latest real estate data revealed a 10.3 per cent increase in rental costs over the last year, adding to a 25 per cent increase in the last five years.

It coincides with a staggering 50 per cent increase in elder abuse over the same period last year, according to a report from Better Place Australia.

Better Place chief executive officer Serge Sardo said the impact of repeated Covid lockdowns has left older people increasingly vulnerable to exploitation.

“We have seen a 30 per cent increase in cases of adult children returning home to live with parents in the Geelong area due to soaring rental costs across regional Victoria,” he said.

“This has led to an increase in situations of abuse and isolation, with many older people feeling under pressure to pay for their adult children’s living expenses and fearing that their child will become homeless if they do not provide financial support or a place to live.”

Mr Sardo said parents with adult children could feel pressured between moving into an aged-care facility or having to endure emotional abuse living with their children.

“Through Covid what we’ve seen is older people becoming increasingly isolated in their own home,” he said.

“We’ve heard horrific tales of not only children isolating them, but stopping health services coming to the house.”

Mr Sardo said the organisation had seen an “exponential” growth in the number of referrals in recent years.

“There needs to be more services and funding available to address the issue,” he said.

Barwon Community Legal Service acting chief executive officer Alexandria Jones said the moving of services online and social isolation had made it more difficult for older generations to access legal and other services.

“Overwhelmingly there is an issue around digital literacy when it comes to accessing services online,” she said.

“Elder abuse is family violence, and we’ve seen a big increase in family violence across our region since the pandemic began.”

Ms Jones said financial abuse was a frequent factor in many domestic violence situations involving older people.

“Elder abuse is not just physical, it’s financial,” she said.

“It can be quite complicated and look different to other areas of domestic violence because it might involve a whole range of other civil law areas.”

It comes weeks after the Federal Government committed to prioritising power of attorney reform to better protect older generations from financial abuse.

Law Council of Australia President, Jacoba Brasch welcomed the move.

“Our population is ageing,” Law Council of Australia President, Dr Brasch said.

“Older Australians are our parents, our grandparents, our aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers and friends and we need to do more to protect them.

It’s understood the changes will prioritise making sure people signing the document makes an informed decision about the document’s content and implications.

Originally published as How Geelong housing, pandemic is increasing elder abuse rates