Recognising and Responding to Elder Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Refers to any unwanted sexual activity or behaviour directed at an older person without their consent, including both physical contact and non-contact actions (Australian Government 2026).

Examples of sexual abuse may include:

• Sexual assault
• Sexual contact, touching or behaviours
• Sexual harassment, for example, being forced to watch pornography, sexual acts or exhibitionism
• Coerced nudity
• Inappropriate cleaning or treatment of the person's genital area
• Not providing privacy when bathing
• Using technology to facilitate sexual abuse, such as taking/sharing intimate images, sexual extortion, online sexual abuse or dating abuse.

(Seniors Rights Victoria 2024b; Australian Government 2026)

Emotional/Psychological Abuse

Emotional or psychological abuse is when a person causing harm threatens, humiliates or harasses an older person, causing them to feel distressed, ashamed, stressed or powerless. Emotional abuse often occurs in combination with other types of abuse (Seniors Rights Victoria 2024a).

Examples of emotional/psychological abuse may include:

• Pressuring, bullying, intimidating, humiliating or infantilising the person
• Making threats of harm to the person, their property, pets and/or other people
• Verbally assaulting the person, for example, name-calling, shouting, ridiculing, belittling or cursing
• Isolating the person from their friends and family, or from others who speak their language
• Withholding the person’s right to privacy
• Disrespect
• Stalking an older person
• Depriving access to appropriate clothing, hygiene or toileting
• Being forced to wear continence pads
• Being treated like a child
• Being made to feel dependent.

(Seniors Rights Victoria 2024b; Australian Government 2026; Royal Commission Into Aged Care Quality and Safety 2020)

Social Abuse

Social abuse is when a person causing harm forcefully isolates an older person from other people, such as family, friends and health services. This may prevent the older person from seeking help about the abuse they are experiencing (Seniors Rights Victoria 2024a).

Examples of social abuse may include:

• Preventing the person from contacting their family and friends
• Not allowing the person to go outside their home, room or accommodation facility
• Restricting access to the person’s car, transportation, mobility aids, etc.
• Withholding the person’s mail
• Preventing the person from making phone calls or listening in on their calls
• Preventing the person from being involved in social, community, religious, cultural or spiritual activities.

(Seniors Rights Victoria 2024b; 1800RESPECT 2017)

Neglect

Neglect occurs when someone responsible for an older person's care fails to meet their needs. It can take the form of physical or emotional neglect, unintentional neglect, or deliberate withholding of care, and may happen once, repeatedly, or as part of an ongoing pattern (Australian Government 2026).

Examples of neglect include denying an older person access to:

• Adequate food or drinks
• Adequate warmth
• Adequate housing
• Appropriate clothing for the environment
• Medical care, treatments or access to health services
• Medications or pain management
• Medical aids, including glasses, dentures, hearing aids, continence aids and walking frames
• Means for good hygiene, such as neglecting to assist the person with bathing, toileting or oral care
• Adequate supervision, adequate time attending to care needs
• Poor wound management, catheter management, oral care, etc.
• Care in line with the person’s care plan.

(Seniors Rights Victoria 2024a, 2024b; ACQSC 2025a; Royal Commission 2020; Australian Government 2026)

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse is when a person causes harm by using an older person’s money, property or other assets illegally or improperly, or forces or coerces the older person to change their will or sign particular documents (Australian Government 2026).

Examples of financial abuse may be:

• Misuse of legal powers, such as the power of attorney or the enduring power of attorney
• Forcing changes to legal documents, such as a will
• Stealing money or property from an older person
• Withholding money
• Coercing, deceiving or undue influence, such as coercing the person into signing a document
• Misappropriation of funds, property and valuables, such as using the person’s credit card without their permission
• Financial scams
• Identity theft
• Standover tactics to coerce an older person into handing over money and assets.

(Seniors Rights Victoria 2024b; Australian Government 2026)

Cultural or spiritual abuse

Actions that exploit an older person's cultural or spiritual beliefs (or lack of beliefs) to control, intimidate or isolate them. This can include undermining, dismissing or denying their cultural identity, values, traditions and practices (Australian Government 2026).

Examples of cultural or spiritual abuse may include:

• Preventing an older person from attending their place of worship or participating in cultural, spiritual or religious activities
• Stopping an older person from speaking their preferred language
• Imposing conflicting cultural values or unreasonable cultural obligations
• Ridiculing, making fun of or dismissing an older person's religious or spiritual beliefs
• Using religious teachings to minimise, deny or justify abuse or mistreatment
• For First Nations people, preventing older people from visiting or returning to Country, maintaining contact with kin, or continuing cultural and spiritual practices
• Questioning a First Nations person's identity due to a lack of cultural connection, particularly for Stolen Generation survivors.

(Australian Government 2026)

Technology-facilitated abuse

Technology-facilitated abuse is harmful behaviour that occurs online or through digital technology and devices (Australian Government 2026).

Examples of technology-facilitated abuse may include:

• Restricting or controlling a person's ability to use technology and internet-connected devices
• Tampering with or disrupting technology that someone depends on for their physical or mental health and wellbeing, such as medical equipment, assistive or communication devices
• Gaining unauthorised access to an older person's online accounts
• Altering passwords or passcodes on devices and accounts to prevent the older person from accessing them independently
• Using online platforms to carry out scams targeting older people.

(Australian Government 2026)

Discrimination

Discrimination is the mistreatment or bullying of an older person based on their personal characteristics (or presumed characteristics). These characteristics can include (but are not limited to) gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability, employment, race or religious belief (Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission 2020).

Policies, Legislation and Services for Preventing Abuse

Your organisation must establish clear policies and procedures to protect older people from abusive behaviour. It’s also important to maintain a workplace culture that promotes positive values, experience and attitudes and is transparent about its processes (NDS 2017).

In addition to individual organisations’ policies and procedures, there are other mechanisms in place to help protect older people from abuse.

These include:

• Aged Care Act 2024
• Aged Care Rules 2025
• 1800ELDERHelp
• National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2026 – 2036
• The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
• The Statement of Rights
• The Serious Incident Response Scheme
• Other state and territory legislation.

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN), which is contracted by the Australian Government, provides free, independent and confidential advocacy services to older adults receiving funded aged care services (ACQSC 2025b).

Elder Abuse Under the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards

Following the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in 2021, the Australian Government identified an urgent need to update the existing Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, which occurred in August 2025.

Standard 1: The individual - Outcome 1.2: Dignity, respect and privacy (Action 1.2.1) of the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards advises registered providers to establish a system that identifies, prevents and addresses violence, abuse, racism, neglect, exploitation and discrimination (DHDA 2025).

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS)

Read: What is the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS)?

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) commenced in April 2021 as a federal government initiative to reduce abuse and neglect in Commonwealth-funded residential aged care.

The Aged Care Act 2024, commencing 1 November 2025, introduced further changes to the SIRS, which now also applies to home and community aged care settings (ACQSC 2025a).

Under the SIRS, all organisations providing Commonwealth-funded aged care services are required to identify, record, manage and resolve all serious incidents, which include:

• Unreasonable use of force
• Unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct
• Neglect
• Psychological or emotional abuse
• Unexpected death
• Stealing or financial coercion by a staff member
• Inappropriate use of restrictive practices
• Unexplained absence.

(ACQSC 2025b)

These incidents, along with any allegation, suspicion, or witness account of these incidents, must be reported to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Each incident is graded as either Priority 1 or Priority 2, which determines the required timeframe for reporting. For more information, refer to the Commission's latest guidance.

Recognising the Signs of Abusive Behaviour

Older people experiencing abusive behaviour may not seek help due to fear, guilt, shame, lack of capacity or lack of knowledge about the resources available to them (Better Health Channel 2018).

Therefore, it is important to be able to recognise the signs of abuse in case the older person does not disclose it. Signs may include, but are not limited to:

• Malnutrition, dehydration or unexplained weight loss
• Poor personal hygiene, oral care, and inadequate or dirty clothes
• Lack of assistive devices or aids
• Untreated medical issues
• Fearful, anxious or withdrawn behaviour
• Anxiety, agitation, and sadness following a visit by a particular person
• Increased paranoia, social withdrawal, shame or low self-esteem
• Unexplained and frequent injuries, poor skin integrity
• Unexplained cuts or bruises on the genitals or anus
• Unexplained sexually transmitted infections or incontinence
• Fearful of being touched
• Bloody undergarments or bedding
• Evidence of hitting, punching, pulling, such as missing teeth, eye injuries, welts, broken bones, dislocations
• Evidence of burns, such as rope burn, cigarette burns on the skin
• Difficulty or pain when walking or sitting
• Sudden and unexpected changes in financial status, such as inability to pay bills, changes to wills, insufficient food in the fridge, unexplained disappearance of possessions, and substantial bank withdrawals.

(Better Health Channel 2018; EAHRU 2016)

For a more comprehensive list of signs of elder abuse, see Ausmed’s Training Module on Elder Abuse.

Responding to Abuse

Your organisation should have clear policies and procedures for responding to abuse. All staff should be familiar with these frameworks and their duty of care to those in their care (Seniors Rights Victoria 2024c).

Healthcare workers may be the first people to notice or suspect abuse.

If you suspect abuse:

• Do not ignore the situation
• Seek the older person's input on how they wish to address their situation. Discuss any appropriate referrals that may be required. If they lack the capacity to consent, engage with their appointed decision maker
• Contact emergency services if there is an immediate threat of harm
• Gather information by asking the person non-judgmental, direct and open questions in a sensitive manner
• Provide emotional, non-judgmental support
• Record details in writing, including anything you may have seen or heard. This must be confidential
• Notify your supervisor
• Refer to your organisation's policies and procedures.

(Seniors Rights Victoria 2024c; EAHRU 2016)

Conclusion

All older people have the right to receive care without abuse or fear of abuse. Abuse is never acceptable. Ensure you can recognise the signs of abuse and always take action if you suspect an older person is being harmed.