Elder abuse and the law
The abuse, neglect and exploitation of older Queenslanders is a significant and growing concern. Older people with impaired decision-making ability are particularly vulnerable to elder abuse.
The Public Advocate collaborated with the elder law section of the Queensland Law Society to explore the legal framework around elder abuse in Queensland.
Published on 1 June 2010, the aim of the final report, Elder Abuse: How well does the law in Queensland cope? was to raise awareness of the legal issues associated with elder abuse.
The report covered a range of issues relating to:
- civil and criminal law
- guardianship
- reporting requirements
- older persons as victims of crime
- law enforcement
- domestic violence protection orders
- aged care complaints mechanisms
- access to the aged care complaints system
- access to legal assistance
The report was updated again as a joint project between the Public Advocate and the Queensland Law Society, to reflect societal changes over the last decade. This updated report, Elder Abuse: Joint Issues Paper , was released in February 2022.
Enduring Powers of Attorney reform
National reform is currently underway concerning:
- the possible harmonisation of financial enduring powers of attorney legislation (every state and territory currently has its own legislation on this topic); and
- the development of a national register of financial enduring powers of attorney.
The Public Advocate has released the attached Model Financial Enduring Powers of Attorney Law as well as the one-page 'Towards Harmonisation ' document in order to encourage movement towards harmonisation of Australia's various financial enduring powers of attorney laws.
Restrictive practices in aged care
Reform paper
In 2021 the Public Advocate released a restrictive practices reform options paper recommending the adoption of a senior practitioner model to authorise and regulate the use of restrictive practices in Queensland. The paper is available here .
Discussion paper
In 2017, the Public Advocate published a paper - Legal frameworks for the use of restrictive practices in aged care: An analysis of Australian and international jurisdictions . This paper examines existing laws, policies and practices in Australia and in international jurisdictions that make up the regulatory frameworks governing the use of restrictive practices.