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For many people, cultural and/or spiritual beliefs and practices are a fundamental part of their identity.
Top 3 messages about cultural and spiritual elder abuse:
Cultural and spiritual abuse can happen together or separately.
They are beginning to be recognised as other forms of elder abuse.
Cultural and spiritual abuse affects people’s sense of identity and belonging, and can damage their mental or physical health.
What is cultural and spiritual abuse of older people?
Cultural and spiritual abuse happen when someone uses a person’s culture, language, spirituality or religion, and cultural connection or obligations to hurt or control them. They are now considered to be additional forms of abuse of older people, alongside physical, psychological, financial and sexual abuse and neglect. They emerged as specific issues in the research and evidence behind the National Prevention Framework for the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People (p 97).
Because culture and religion can be intertwined in a person’s sense of identity, these types of abuse may overlap within an older person’s experience. But each can happen independently, too.
Cultural and spiritual abuse are not confined to any particular religions, faiths, cultures or communities. They can occur within any group of people, but often happen within families, care settings or religious communities.
Examples of cultural or spiritual abuse of older people
Denying them access to cultural or community gatherings and activities
Preventing them from accessing and participating in religious or spiritual places, gatherings or events
Ridiculing their beliefs, whether cultural or spiritual
Disconnecting people from Country, mob or community
Using religious teachings or texts to convince them to remain in an abusive relationship or to justify abusive or violent acts
Denying them access to important information in their preferred language
Effects of cultural or spiritual abuse
A person’s inability to participate in their preferred cultural or spiritual practices is a human rights issue. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises people’s ‘right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion’ (Article 18) and to ‘participate in the cultural life of the community(Article 27). Older people do not lose their human rights as they grow older.
For many people, cultural and/or spiritual beliefs and practices are a fundamental part of their identity. This can be particularly strong for older people, who have participated in their religion or culture for a long time. When people have spent years ‒ even decades ‒ engaging regularly with religious or cultural practices, it can be very distressing to have that engagement stopped.
Other mental or emotional effects of experiencing cultural or spiritual abuse may include depression, anxiety, shame, self-doubt and confusion. In addition, being excluded from cultural or faith communities can mean older people lose important and often long-held support networks, leaving them vulnerable to further abuse.
Cultural abuse: Amara’s story
Amara, 74, migrated to Australia from Nigeria with her husband and children many years ago, but she still enjoys proudly wearing her colourful gele and clothing to church and cultural events. After her husband dies, Amara moves in with her eldest son and his wife, who is not Nigerian. The daughter-in-law clearly doesn’t like Amara’s vibrant outfits, and soon she begins making comments like, ‘Why don’t you just wear Australian clothes?’
Amara depends on her son or daughter-in-law to take her to Nigerian community gatherings and church. Without the son’s knowledge, the daughter-in-law starts refusing to do so. Increasingly cut off from her cultural traditions, Amara gradually feels depressed and alone.
How cultural and spiritual abuse can happen
Cultural and spiritual abuse can happen deliberately or unintentionally, either in personal relationships or places like schools, religious centres and care settings. When they happen unintentionally, it may be through ignorance, lack of awareness and assumptions on the part of the person causing the abuse.
For example, if a care worker doesn’t understand how important church attendance is to their older client, or a younger family member doesn’t feel so strongly aligned with the older person’s cultural practices, they might not make the effort to help the person participate in religious or cultural events.
The National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study (2021) found that abuse relating to language and culture ‘is perpetrated less by family members (who are likely to share the same cultural background […]) and more by friends, neighbours and acquaintances’ (p 150). This suggests that a lack of cultural understanding by people outside the older person’s culture can be a contributing factor.
Spiritual abuse: Helen’s story[i]
Helen is an older woman receiving end-of-life care in hospital. Her same-sex partner, Ros, has been by her side throughout. Helen’s estranged sister and brother-in-law have started visiting her, and her palliative care social worker, Lucas, notices that after their visits, Helen becomes tense and withdrawn. Ros tells him that the sister and brother-in-law have been pressuring Helen to ‘repent’ of her sexuality and make religious statements she doesn’t want to make.
Lucas recognises this as spiritual abuse, not simply a family tension, so he intervenes. He talks to Helen about who she feels safe with and helps her put visitor boundaries in place. He also ensures Ros is recognised and included in Helen’s care and wishes.
Why cultural and spiritual abuse may stay hidden
As they’re only now being recognised as forms of abuse, cultural and spiritual abuse have effectively remained hidden until now. Research and policy are only recently starting to acknowledge the need for more attention and investigation into their prevalence and causes.
If people don’t recognise that what’s happening to them is abuse, they won’t speak up about it, disclose it or report it. Greater awareness of cultural and spiritual abuse as a social issue may encourage more reporting of experiences.
And when abuse of any kind happens ‘behind closed doors’, it’s harder for other people to see it and respond. Cultural and spiritual abuse often happens within the person’s family, cultural group or spiritual community, which means outsiders may not have any chance to intervene.
How to respond to possible cultural or spiritual abuse
A good place to start is in being aware of elder abuse and understanding what it looks like, so you’re able to decide whether what’s happening might be abusive and should stop.
If it’s happening to you, put aside any feelings of shame or embarrassment. You have every right to participate in the cultural or faith practices that you want, and seeking help is vital for your wellbeing.
Try talking directly to the person who’s causing the harm, if you feel safe to do so: they may not realise the impact their behaviour is having. If it’s in a professional care setting, you can also speak to the service manager about particular incidents, behaviours or staff members.
Where to get help
Talk to a trusted friend or neighbour, your doctor or your care service provider about what’s happening. They may be able to offer an outside perspective and help you get further information.
You can also contact these national services:
1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374) – information, advice and connection to support services
13YARN (13 92 76) – culturally safe crisis support by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Or approach a community legal aid service in your state or territory:
the ACT: Older Persons ACT Legal Service (OPALS) – phone 1800 353 374
New South Wales: Seniors Rights Service – phone 1800 424 079
the Northern Territory: Seniors’ Rights Service, Darwin Community Legal Service – phone 1800 037 072
South Australia: Aged Rights Advocacy Service (ARAS) – phone (08) 8232 5377
Tasmania: Senior Assist, Tasmania Legal Aid – phone 1300 366 611
Queensland: Seniors Legal and Support Service (SLASS), Legal Aid Queensland
Victoria: Seniors Rights Victoria – phone 1300 368 821 (select option 1)
Western Australia: Legal Aid Western Australia’s elder abuse page– phone 1300 650 579
Find out more
National Prevention Framework for the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People
Elder abuse in Australia: Culturally and linguistically diverse Australians – research snapshot, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2022
Understanding the abuse and mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander older people – research snapshot, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2026
Spiritual elder abuse in culturally diverse communities – Compass article
The unique challenges of elder abuse in multicultural Australia – Compass article
Older people, cultural diversity and financial elder abuse – Compass article
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Compass
Compass
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