Thanks to The Chronicle for helping us highlight the important, yet devastating issue of elder abuse in our community.
Over the last six months (as of 9/07/2021), TASC has unfortunately seen a significant increase of people accessing our services due to elder abuse – from 2020, we have seen an increase of 66%.
CEO Frances Klaassen OAM said that due to the ongoing pandemic, older people are more exposed to abuse from those closest to them than ever before.
“Our older generation have become more reliant on family, friends and carers over the past 18 months, which has left them exposed to being taken advantage of in all forms of abuse,”
“Financial abuse often comes hand in hand with situations like: family agreements around properties or granny flats not being fulfilled, coercion and control over financial matters where the older person is clearly being disadvantaged or pressure on bill payments, leading to personal lending – just to name a few. Along with this, nationally there has been a spike in domestic violence cases during the pandemic.” Frances said.
Clients often feel like they are bystanders in their own lives and not being supported to make important decisions. At TASC we want to support people to stand up for themselves and to educate the community about the importance our older community members.
TASC is focused on working with government and other social services organisations and advocacy groups to expose and address this serious issue
TASC believes there are three key steps to ensuring our older community is protected from abuse – they are:
- Keep an open line of communication, listening carefully and acting appropriately.
- Helping the older person identify that what they are experiencing is elder abuse.
- Respecting their boundaries and choice to either seek help or not.
Remember, TASC is here to help – so if you live in Toowoomba or Ipswich, you can call us on 07 4616 9700 for more information and guidance surrounding elder abuse.
If you or someone you know is experiencing elder abuse, call the Queensland Government’s Elder Abuse Helpline on 1300 651 192.
Click on this link to read The Chronicle article: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba/local-expert-says-elder-abuse-is-up-by-more-than-60-per-cent/news-story/1cfd76af1f767f957ed264bac8b1de13