Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs I present the report of the committee entitled Older people and the law, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—On 2 August 2006 the Attorney-General, the Hon. Philip Ruddock MP, asked the committee to investigate and report on the adequacy of current legislative regimes in addressing the legal needs of older Australians. In particular, the committee was asked to focus on fraud, financial abuse, general and enduring power of attorney provisions, family agreements, barriers to older Australians accessing legal services, and discrimination. The committee used the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare definition of ‘older people’ as those aged 65 years and over.

Older people have made an enormous contribution to Australian society in many ways and continue to do so. However, as ageing takes its toll, poor health leaves older people vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and neglect.

Australia faces an inescapable demographic destiny with regard to our ageing population. By 2046 it is estimated that over one-quarter of Australia’s population will be aged 65 years and over. The issue of how well Australia’s legal regimes address the needs of this older segment of the Australian population is, therefore, very important indeed. Evidence to the inquiry highlighted that many older people are unable to access legal services for a variety of reasons.

In response to this demographic challenge, the committee has made 48 recommendations in a range of areas including dispute resolution services, consumer protection measures, substitute decision making instruments, access to legal services, and family agreements. In particular, the committee recommends that the Australian government: work with the banking sector to develop national, industry-wide protocols for reporting alleged financial abuse, work with states and territories towards the implementation of uniform legislation on powers of attorney and develop a national registration system for the instrument, and investigate ways to improve the access of older Australians to legal services through the use of a rebate scheme.

I would like to express my appreciation to the numerous service delivery and advocacy organisations that contributed to the inquiry. The committee was impressed to receive 157 submissions, 42 supplementary submissions and 168 exhibits. Public hearings were held in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Brisbane, Buderim, Perth and Adelaide. These hearings also provided the opportunity for the committee to hear first hand the views of older Australians at a number of public forums. The committee was impressed by the sincerity and thoughtfulness of the evidence it received.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the committee, both government and opposition, for their cooperative approach to this inquiry and to all of the inquiries we have had during the current parliament. All of our reports have been unanimous. On one report there was a slight expression of concern, but there was no dissent from the findings of the committee in that report.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the secretariat—in particular, Ms Joanne Towner, Dr Nicholas Horne, Mr Michael Crawford, Dr Mark Rodrigues and other secretariat staff—for the way in which they were able to assist the committee in its deliberations and, given the time frame and the possibility of an election, for how they were able to expedite the tabling of the report, which has been presented to the parliament today.

If implemented, the initiatives recommended in the report will assist not only older people but also their families and carers and the rest of the community, who benefit from the wealth of experience and wisdom that older people have to offer. I am very pleased to commend the report to the House.

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