Drouin Men's Shed lead elder abuse conversation

Elder abuse was the focus of a special forum hosted by Drouin Men's Shed last week in which local police delivered a strong message to community members relating to abandonment, financial and psychological abuse of elderly family members.
Local police including acting senior sergeant David Harrison, acting sergeant Meredith Law and leading senior constable Paula Fowler presented at the forum.
Police said elder abuse could be intentional or unintentional and involves any situation where a caregiver or person in a relationship of trust with an older person acted (or failed to act) in a way that resulted in harm to the older person.
Attendees were told a significant proportion of elder abuse was carried out by someone the victim knows and trusts, including family or carers.
Statistics highlighted 18 per cent of perpetrators were children, seven per cent were partners of children and four per cent were grandchildren.
Elder abuse can include:
Abandonment – deserting a person that is in care of another;
Financial – exploitation for financial or material gain;
Neglect – failure or refusal to fulfil an obligation related to the care of another, such as failing to administer prescribed medication;
Healthcare – incorrect caregiving provided by healthcare settings such as over prescribing medication or not providing necessary treatment;
Physical – any form of physical force resulting in injury or impairment; and,
Psychological – Undermining, embarrassing, isolating or any other behaviour resulting in emotional pain or distress.
In addition to addressing elder abuse, police covered a wide range of topics relevant to the audience including personal and home security, various current scams and scam awareness tips as well as the various roles of police.
The officers encouraged questions from the audience and provided some useful and in-depth responses to the concerns raised.
Federal Member for Monash Mary Aldred, state member for Narracan Wayne Farnham and Baw Baw Shire Cr Tricia Jones also addressed the large group
Ms Aldred congratulated Drouin Men's Shed for holding an education session to highlight the critical issue of elder abuse.
"This is a very important topic and I congratulate Drouin Men's Shed for initiating the conversation.
"Everyone in our community has the right to live their life with dignity and respect. However, with one in six older Australians unfortunately experiencing elder abuse
every year, these sessions are critical to raise awareness and education."
Ms Aldred said a national framework for combating elder abuse was released in 2019, with the government releasing an updated 10-year national plan in March.
"It's about all of us, as a community, standing up against elder abuse," Ms Aldred said. "If you see something that's not right, you need to say something."
Drouin Men's Shed president Brian Williams described it as "a very important session."
"It was a really good turnout of members and partners, and a session well worthwhile," Mr Williams said.
If you or someone you know may be the target of elder abuse, contact the following services for support or contact 000 in an emergency:
1800 ELDERHelp - 1800 353 374
Seniors Rights Victoria - 1300 368 821.
Elder Rights Advocacy provides free advocacy assistance to support older peoples - 1800 700 600.