Supporting Victorians Through Adversity

Rallying behind a specialist service for older people

In 2017, Better Place Australia launched the Integrated Model of Care (IMOC) in response to the rising number of Victorians experiencing elder abuse.

The program’s first year of success led to funding from the state government in five regions – three of which were serviced by Better Place Australia.

For the past six years, older Victorians had direct access to a specialist family violence service that catered to their unique needs, treated them with respect and considered their health, physical, cognitive and ageing needs.

Unlike in a generalist stream, our elder abuse prevention specialists could respond quickly to emergencies by assessing a client in the safety of a health service and creating a safety plan.

IMOC also acknowledged that elder abuse is not another form of family violence but an intersection of it. Where family violence has a gender-based framework, IMOC could respond to female perpetrators and support men as victim-survivors of family violence.

Our specialists saw 1,200 clients over the past six years. Many were referred to us during the pandemic lockdowns when the number of elder abuse cases reached alarming heights.

In short, IMOC was a lifeline for vulnerable older Victorians.

Removing crucial support for older people 

In May 2023, the state government unexpectedly announced that it would cease its funding for IMOC in August 2023 due to shifting priorities and the assumption that elder abuse falls within the parameters of family violence.

The IMOC defunding affects 70% of specialist positions, leaving only five of the 15 still in operation.

To date, there are no plans to replace IMOC. Instead, victim-survivors of elder abuse will be funnelled into a generalist stream that’s already struggling to cope with a heavy caseload.

But of bigger concern is the likelihood that poorer access to intervention services will result in more cases of elder abuse falling through the cracks.

As it stands, elder abuse is severely unidentified, unrecognised and unreported.

The gravity of IMOC’s defunding

Senior Rights Victorian (SRV) says calls to their Elder Abuse hotline rose 39% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The defunding of IMOC has since forced SRV to reduce its number of helpline advocates to a single person.

This is deeply worrying especially after an AIFS National Prevalence Study found that approximately one in six older Australians experience elder abuse.

Right now, only 30% of family violence service locations can provide the necessary specialist response – via Orange Doors. But the current wait time is 4 to 6 weeks and is expected to double in the near future.

This puts vulnerable clients and those with a disability, without technology access or living with their perpetrator at greater risk of harm. 

The nature of abuse has also increased in gravity with a 15% rise in physical assault. There are also more cases of non-fatal strangulation and threats to kill the victim-survivor. 

Lumping elder abuse under the broader umbrella of family violence puts the older person at a severe disadvantage in terms of available support.

For one, family violence often involves lawyers and does not take into account the victim-survivor’s diminished capacity. An older person with diminished capacity cannot be legally represented.

Where family violence can instigate a separation, elder abuse may involve the older person continuing to live with their perpetrator for financial, practical or emotional reasons. Most of them want the abuse to end but not the relationship.

As more of these complex cases emerge today, it is incomprehensible that older Victorians are being denied the right to a specialist family violence service during a time of urgent need.

Keeping elder abuse in the spotlight

In July 2023, the Treasury’s Wellbeing Report recommended a National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians as part of their ‘Key Government initiatives to make Australians feel safer.’

Better Place Australia strongly believes that IMOC belongs among those initiatives. And so we have become a public voice in rallying the sector to campaign for the reinstatement of specialist family violence services.

We cannot remove a critical pathway of support for older people experiencing family violence. The results could be catastrophic.

We have been a leader in the prevention of elder abuse space since 2016 and that will not change now. In July, we launched a public awareness campaign that generated strong media attention.

It is our responsibility to advocate for our older clients who now have to navigate complex pathways and processes in the generalist stream. A specialist elder abuse service for older people is not an option; it is a non-negotiable need.