Elder abuse is about to become a crime of its own in the ACT, but some fear the creation of a new offence may make the crime harder to prosecute.The laws are broad, aiming to protect people over 60, and those who are "vulnerable" or "socially isolated"
It argues the laws are even more important now, amid reports of surging calls to Legal Aid ACT's dedicated elder-abuse helplines since the COVID-19 crisis set in. Defining "abusive conduct" is a little trickier, and the laws try to cover areas such as emotional and psychological abuse, financial abuse, physical and sexual abuse."Whether it's an individual family member, or someone in an institution, what we see is that those vulnerable people have an openness at times to relying on people where that trust is misplaced," he said.
The vast majority concern elder abuse, while other callers have more specific concerns around issues like wills and guardianship. "An assault is an assault, regardless of the person it is against, and it is criminal in today's society," he said. That might have the perverse effect of seeing perpetrators walk free, if those new offences could not be proven.
It's wrong this wasn't in faaar sooner. We've arguably put in protections for people that can indeed defend themselves but some how over looked this? Pretty massive oversight and it makes me wonder how many elderly died thinking they were hated ignored and forgotten.
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