The National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People provides an important opportunity to comprehensively address the abuse and mistreatment of older people, with the ultimate aim of its elimination.

To most effectively help protect LGBTI older people from abuse and mistreatment, community information and awareness raising campaigns are required. We support proposals to enhance legal frameworks and adult safeguarding responses. To do this, there is a need for increased and prolonged funding to specialist LGBTIQA+ Community Legal Centres and programs.

There is also need for workforce training and capacity building, to help sensitise providers to the particular dynamics of elder abuse for LGBTI older people. This includes how histories of cultural, familial and institutional discrimination result in some LGBTI older people having fraught relationships with family members and/or aged care providers.

You can read the full submission here.