- Published:
- Monday, 17 June 2019 at 7:12 am
Current responses to older people who experience elder abuse, and challenges and issues that older people and practitioners might experience with the service system when responding to elder abuse were explored at a dedicated forum.
Domestic Violence Victoria, Seniors Rights Victoria and No to Violence partnered to deliver the Responding to Elder Abuse as a Form of Family Violence: Building Knowledge and Practice Forum.
Supported by Family Safety Victoria, around 100 people attended the forum, which was held at Melbourne Town Hall on 30 May.
The Commissioner for Senior Victorians and Victoria's Ambassador for Elder Abuse Prevention, Gerard Mansour, gave the opening address.
He spoke about the impacts of ageism and outlined important work being done by the Victorian Government and the broader family violence service system to address elder abuse in a family violence context.
The forum featured a panel of speakers who discussed two hypothetical case studies, outlining how their organisation would respond to situations when supporting an older person and highlighting service delivery models and referral pathways. The panel members were:
- Alasdair Gall, Senior Sergeant, Family Violence Command, Victoria Police
- Del Aulich, Service System Navigator, The Orange Door in North Eastern Melbourne, Family Safety Victoria
- Helen Rushford, Elder Abuse Prevention and Response Liaison Officer, Melbourne Health Integrated Model of Care to Respond to Suspected Elder Abuse
- Mandy Walmsley, Advocate, Seniors Rights Victoria
- Kelly Hinton, General Manager, Eastern Domestic Violence Outreach Service (EDVOS)
- Claudia Fletcher, No to Violence and Men’s Referral Service
The forum also included small group discussions, giving people the opportunity to explore current challenges, issues and examples of best practice when responding to elder abuse.
Participants were also challenged to come up with ways to better integrate parts of the service system responding to older people and opportunities for partnerships and information sharing.
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