Upholding seniors' rights

Editorial and photography: Danielle Ford

When Peter* and Lucy’s* daughter Mary* and her adult children showed up at their front door needing a place to stay for a few weeks, the couple couldn’t have imagined that 12 months later they would be getting police involved to reclaim their house.

Wanting to help their daughter and grandchildren, the couple agreed to let them stay on a short-term arrangement while Mary looked for a rental property.

However, once they moved in, it soon became clear that Mary and her children were making no attempts to find alternate accommodation.

Over the next 12 months, the situation for Lucy and Peter gradually became harder to deal with.

Mary’s belongings were now starting to take over the house and it became apparent she and her children had no plans to leave or make any financial contributions.

Adding to the stressful situation for the older couple, Mary also became increasingly verbally abusive towards Lucy and Peter.

Needing help to know their rights and options to try and get Mary and her children to move out, Lucy and Peter sought advice from Senior Rights Victoria, a support agency for older people, about the situation.

After this discussion, Mary was informed she had no right to reside at the house, and that she and her children should vacate.

This inflamed Mary and she hurled abuse at Lucy and Peter, who became afraid for their safety. They were unable to drive to the police station because their car was blocked by Mary’s belongings.

Instead, they rang the support agency again and, through an arrangement established under the Victoria Police-led financial elder abuse trial program, detectives from the local Family Violence Investigation Unit (FVIU) were contacted on the couple’s behalf.

Detectives attended the house and served Family Violence Safety Notices (FVSNs) on Mary and her children.

FVSNs are issued on the spot to protect the affected family members from future violence from the respondent and have conditions similar to a Family Violence Intervention Order.

In line with these conditions, Mary and her adult children were removed from the premises and provided with local emergency accommodation.

Lucy and Peter had initially been reluctant to involve police, however a partnership developed between Senior Rights Victoria and Victoria Police under the financial elder abuse trial program meant that Lucy and Peter felt empowered to act.

The trial, established in response to a recommendation from the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, was designed to reduce the rates of financial elder abuse by increasing connections between police, financial institutions and support agencies.

Under the trial, if the financial institutions and support agencies either suspected or were dealing with cases of financial elder abuse and had the affected family member’s consent, they could link in with police to provide further options for action. Police could also liaise directly with support agencies to conduct welfare checks if they suspected elder abuse was occurring.

Financial elder abuse is defined as any fraudulent, illegal, deceptive or otherwise improper activity or processes done by a person for their own financial gain to the detriment of an older person. It is the most common type of abuse faced by older Australians.

Det Sen Const Brendan Cunningham is part of the Box Hill FVIU, one of five teams involved in the financial elder abuse trial, which aims to provide more streamlined support to victims by bringing police, financial institutions and support agencies together.

Reports show financial abuse impacts about six per cent of people over the age of 65, however, the true rate of cases is believed to be much higher because cases are quite often not reported.

In April 2020, the trial was introduced and dedicated financial elder abuse teams were implemented at five FVIUs: Bendigo, Morwell, Mornington, Box Hill and Croydon.

Family Violence Command Senior Sergeant Alasdair Gall said cases like Lucy and Peter’s highlighted the importance of improving the police response to, and understanding of, financial elder abuse.

“Financial elder abuse is often underreported because there is a level of shame and embarrassment associated with it due to it being a family member or trusted person doing the offending,” Sen Sgt Gall said.

“Victims are also hesitant to involve police out of fear of getting their family member in trouble.

“Through the trial, we are able to provide support agencies and banks with more accurate information about the police options available to victims, which like in Lucy and Peter’s case, don’t always involve court orders or criminal charges.”

Box Hill FVIU Detective Senior Sergeant Matt Russell said the trial provided more structure in addressing abuse, making it easier for support agencies to connect cases like Lucy and Peter’s to police.

“Between support agencies, financial institutions and police, there were already a lot of initiatives in place to address financial elder abuse,” Det Sen Sgt Russell said.

“While we already engaged with these local support agencies and banks regularly on cases, there was no official structure in place to bring all these parties to the one table to collaborate effectively to best support older Victorians.

“Through the trial program, we have developed structured channels of communication between our team, the banks and support agencies in our area, meaning we can be alerted to cases in ways we couldn’t before.

“So rather than police responding once a serious offence has already happened, we are able to proactively be involved in cases from the early stages and work with other support agencies for early intervention, with the aim of stopping the situation from escalating.”

Under the trial, local working groups have also been set up in the five areas, bringing together a Police Service Area's (PSA) support agencies, financial institutions and FVIUs for regular meetings.

“The working groups allows us to share knowledge and understanding of what financial elder abuse looks like in our local area,” Det Sen Sgt Russell said.

“The groups have been one of the most successful parts of the program for our team because they’ve helped us strengthen our connections with these agencies and institutions and allowed us to give them a deeper understanding of what we can offer.”

To date, the trial has resulted in more than 50 cases of financial elder abuse being referred to participating FVIUs, with 18 of those cases leading to ongoing investigations into further offences.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reducing engagement with the trial, the program was recently extended for a further 14 months.

Initially due to end in April 2021, the trial will now run until 30 June 2022, when it will be evaluated to determine if it becomes a permanent program across the whole state.

*Names have been changed.

Every year, 15 June marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

Elder abuse is estimated to affect about one in 20 older people and can take various forms, ranging from physical and sexual assault to neglect, psychological and financial mistreatment. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness about the issue.