This page from the Australian Government’s Institute for Health and Welfare presents data on all forms of elder abuse, but focuses on elder abuse in the context of family, domestic, and sexual violence where data are available.
People in Australia are at increased risk of abuse in their later years. This abuse can take many forms, including psychological or emotional abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect (ALRC 2017).
Elder abuse that occurs in families differs from other types of family and domestic violence because it often involves abuse of parents by adult children (Kaspiew et al. 2015; Qu et al. 2021). Abuse can also occur outside of the family, such as in aged care facilities and health care services (Joosten et al. 2017). Elder abuse can cause a range of physical, psychological, financial and social harms to older people (WHO 2022).
The number of older people in Australia experiencing abuse is likely to increase over time with Australia’s ageing population. While 17% of people in Australia were aged 65 and over in 2021, projections indicate that this group will make up around 21% of the population by 2066 (ABS 2018; 2021).