Abstract:

Although public assistance for elderly Australians dates to the turn of the century, the 1980s was a period of extensive reform of such public policies & encouraged research into the needs of the aging. The concept of elder abuse developed along with this new policy agenda. Coined & introduced by the US & UK, the concept has led to new community studies on the status of in-home care, the establishment of a nationwide care assessment team, & heightened coverage of the topic by the media & professional journals. Though the Australian format relies heavily on research perspectives developed by the US, several innovations have been developed, particularly in less specialized categorizations of abuse. Due to research shortcomings regarding definitions of problems & perspectives, the extent of abuse in Australia is yet to be determined, though it has generally been found that there are subgroups (eg, women & those of racial or cultural minorities) in society at greater proportional risk for elder abuse. State institutions have generally been more active than federal ones in establishing abuse as a policy agenda, though attempts at reforming health care provisions, long-term care programs, & the legal system are under way. It is suggested that Australians should not adopt the US system wholly, but develop a perspective sensitive to their own national cultures & institutions.