Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Rennick for his question. Elder abuse is something that all of us need to pay attention to. It is a particular problem in our community and, I think, will require some considerable community attitude change. The Morrison government is committed to ending the abuse of Australian seniors in all its forms. Today, the government launched an awareness campaign to highlight the issue and assist those experiencing physical, emotional and financial abuse to get help. This is one of the many initiatives the government is delivering through the national plan to respond to the abuse of older Australians.

We're also committed to working with the states and territories to consider reforms such as those to enduring-power-of-attorney laws. Our government also funds various support programs, including a free 24-hour phone line—1800ELDERHelp; 1800-353-374—and the Older Persons Advocacy Network, OPAN, to provide free confidential and independent advocacy to support older people, including for matters relating to elder abuse.

We have continued with the reform agenda to protect senior Australians in aged care while we continue through the royal commission running its course. We introduced re-accreditation visits from 1 July 2018. We established the independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1 January last year, bringing together the complaints, accreditation, assessment and monitoring into one agency, as recommended by a number of reviews. We also introduced a suite of critical reforms commencing on 1 July last year: new consumer-facing standards, a new charter of aged-care rights and a new National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program.