SPEECH NOTES FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO THE PREMIER
AS PROXY TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING
FIRST DAY OF THE SECOND NATIONAL WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS
CONFERENCE 17-18 June 2013
“BUILDING A NATIONAL APPROACH
TO PREVENT ABUSE OF OLDER AUSTRALIANS”
17 JUNE 2013
09:15– 09:25AM
ADELAIDE CONVENTION CENTRE
NORTH TERRACE, ADELAIDE.
Acknowledgements:
Hon Megan Mitchell National Children’s Commissioner
Brian Butler, Director of National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples
Paul Greenwood, Deputy District Attorney San Diego
Dr John Brayley, Public Advocate SA
Professor Simon Biggs, University of Melbourne
Ian Yates, CEO COTA Australia
Dr Sally Cockburn (pronounced Coerburn) (AKA Dr Feelgood), MC for the event
Judy Cook, Public Advocate Queensland
Mark Crofton, Deputy Public Trustee and Official Solicitor Queensland
State and Territory Governments representatives
Host
Ms Marilyn Crabtree, CEO, SA Aged Rights Advocacy Service
Other MPs
N/A
Mayors
N/A
Other people needing acknowledging Laurie Lewis and Janice Rigney,
Ministerial Advisory Board on Ageing
members
Total Registrations approximately 300 delegates
Thank you Sally, it is my pleasure to be here today. For those of
you who don’t know me, my name is Leesa Vlahos and my role
is Parliamentary Secretary to our Premier, Jay Weatherill.
I would like to take this opportunity in sharing both Minister
Butler’s sentiments in welcoming you all to the Second National
Elder Abuse Conference.
Before we start, I gratefully acknowledge this land that we meet
on today is the traditional lands for the Kaurna people and that
we respect their spiritual relationship with their country. I also
acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the
greater Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage
benefits are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.
A little later this morning, the Steve Gadlabardi Goldsmith &
Taikurtinna dance group will entertain us… and educate us in
the traditional ways of Aboriginal culture, spirituality, and
dancing. I am also pleased to advise that we will be addressed
by Brian Butler, the Director of National Congress of Australia’s
First Peoples. We are most fortunate to have Brian be with us
here today.
On behalf of the South Australian Minister for Health and
Ageing, the Hon Jack Snelling, I extend a warm welcome to our
special guests to Adelaide. He sends you his best wishes for a
successful conference and he apologises for being unable to
attend.
I am very pleased to welcome the Honourable Megan Mitchell,
Australia’s first National Children’s Commissioner.
Commissioner Mitchell commenced in her five year position
within the Human Rights Commission, on 25 March 2013. She
has an extensive list of educational and vocational experience
accolades that make her a most suited candidate for
implementing changes to improve the lives of children; and;
ensuring Australia fulfils her international obligations for
protecting the rights of children under the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
I am sure you are getting the picture and can appreciate the
synergies between protecting the rights of children and older
people in supporting the important work that you are all
committed to.
I especially welcome Paul Greenwood, Deputy District Attorney
San Diego. I understand Paul is a frequent flyer to Australia and
I am pleased that he is here to share his extensive prosecutorial
experience and what we can learn, as we reflect on our own
work here in South Australia.
.
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I also acknowledge our guests here at “home” in South
Australia:
 Dr John Brayley, South Australian Public Advocate
 Ian Yates, CEO Council on the Ageing....
 members of the Ministerial Advisory Board on Ageing,
Laurie Lewis and Janice Rigney.
... and our colleagues from interstate including:
 Professor Simon Biggs from the University of Melbourne,
Victoria
 Judy Cook, Public Advocate Queensland
 Mark Crofton, Deputy Public Trustee and Official Solicitor
Queensland
Lastly, I am sure you have made welcome our master of
ceremonies, Dr Sally Cockburn. We are very fortunate, as I am
sure most of you would be aware, to have Sally’s capacity as
both an entertainer and advocate for the rights of people.
I congratulate Marilyn Crabtree, CEO of Aged Rights Advocacy
Service, for organising this event. Marilyn has been advocating
for older people and their rights for over twenty five years and
for a national elder abuse conference. Many of you would recall
the success of the first national conference, convened in
Brisbane in 2012.
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This year, it’s Adelaide’s turn to host this event. The conference
is our opportunity to observe the 2013 World Elder Abuse
Awareness Day and discuss some of the best preventing elder
abuse practices, frameworks and approaches, both in Australia
and overseas.
This year’s conference has a strong emphasis on national
approaches, collaboration and investment in systemic
strategies that can, and will, effect real changes to the
experiences of older people, both now and in the future. I am
confident this conference will leave you inspired, informed and
wanting to institute more changes locally and nationally.
The national conference comes at a good time for us in South
Australia. We have been engaged in new work that I am indeed
pleased to be announcing today.
But before I do that, I think it’s important to acknowledge the
work of agencies that have actively contributed to abuse
prevention and response work in South Australia. Since 1990
many agencies have supported and protected the rights of older
people. These include:
 Aged Rights Advocacy Service
 Domiciliary Care
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 Office of the Public Advocate
 Legal Services Commission
 Guardianship Board
 South Australian Police
 Public Trustee and
 University of South Australia, for their research
contributions to evidence base and innovation.
Beyond these agencies, the rights, health and wellbeing of our
senior citizens have, for a long time, been at the centre of our
thinking and planning.
We have good reason to make older people our priority. In 2011
there were 266,712 people aged over 65 years, approximately
16 per cent of South Australia’s total population. Of these,
36,575 were born in non-English speaking countries, and
30,431 were of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
background.
From 2011 to 2036, the numbers of South Australians aged 65
and older will nearly double to 460,625; of these, those aged 80
and over will more than double from 80,683 to approximately
162,781. By 2036, people aged over 65 years will form
approximately 25 per cent of the State’s total population.
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As individuals, older South Australians are very diverse. They
differ in their health, education, skills, finances and assets,
family structures, living arrangements, pre and post-retirement
planning, activities, culture, language and spirituality.
Since 2006, the State Government of South Australia has
funded numerous kick-start initiatives to address the key
themes of safety, security and protection under Improving with
Age – Our Ageing Plan for South Australia.
In 2007, we developed a state-wide abuse prevention and
response framework - Our Actions to Prevent the Abuse of
Older People. This framework guided the implementation of
actions by a range of agencies under five main areas:
1. Providing safety and security – by strengthening reporting
mechanisms and accountability
2. Implementing strategies for prevention – through
education and training
3. Raising awareness – of older people, the community and
professionals
4. Working together – to build strong relationships
5. Supporting research and innovation – to develop effective
prevention models.
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Under the Our Actions framework, the South Australian
Government has provided over $3.5 million to specific abuse
prevention and response activities.
We have listened to the voice of older people – we know what’s
important to them and can therefore plan our future priorities
around these needs. We know that older people have the right
to be safe and to feel secure, within their homes, communities,
the relationships they have with others, and when utilising
services.
As a state government, our leadership role in the protection of
the rights of older people is critical, as are our partnerships with
the whole of the community. If we can provide support in the
right way, our seniors will stay active and engaged within our
communities. With accurate information and choice, older
people can remain empowered and independent for as long as
possible.
I am pleased to advise that we have been working on
developing a new state-wide strategy - the South Australian
Strategy for Safeguarding Older People.
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This strategy incorporates several key elements that, over the
next seven years, will aim to minimise the prevalence and
impact of abuse on older people, through implementing:
 a newly developed South Australian Charter of the Rights
and Freedoms of Older People – the first of its kind in
Australia
 Safeguarding Older People - Principles for intervention
and
 Safeguarding Older People – a continuum model for
service providers.
The new South Australian Charter articulates the rights of older
people that we anticipate will become the conviction of not only
service providers, but also the broader community.
Over the next seven years, the Safeguarding continuum will
support older people to safeguard their rights and interests
through:
 population based approaches and
 primary, secondary and tertiary interventions.
This continuum has been designed to provide agencies with a
more structured way in how they plan and implement actions to
minimise risk factors for older people, from the more
independent through to the more vulnerable. It means that,
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collectively, we can empower older people to self-protect and
safeguard their rights and interests, and step up supports and
protections where the need arises.
SA Health, through the Office for the Ageing, has coordinated
the development of the draft South Australian Strategy for
Safeguarding Older People through high level collaboration with
key service providers and state government agencies.
This draft Strategy represents the needs of older people, while
taking into account the needs agencies. It aims to provide an
overarching strategic framework to guide practice and
determine actions over the next seven years. It incorporates
contemporary international and national approaches, policies,
best practice and work already undertaken in South Australia.
Further afield than South Australia, the prevention of abuse of
older people is gaining momentum as a significant health and
social issue worldwide. Abuse of older people sits under the
fourth pillar (security) of the World Health Organisation’s Active
Ageing Policy Framework.
Here in South Australia, we have been very fortuitous to have
Dr Alexandre Kalache as our Thinker in Residence. He is a
world leading ageing expert, past Director of the World Health
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Organisation and he has integrated his extensive experience in
using an age-friendly lens within our own ageing policy context.
Culminating the work over four extensive visits here in South
Australia, Dr Alexandre Kalache has now released his
Longevity Revolution Report. This report includes numerous
recommendations for protecting the rights of older people
strongly, as well as other recommendations that, when applied,
will universally contribute to strengthening safeguards of older
people. We look forward to the synergies between this new
strategy and the recommendations proposed by Dr Kalache in
his report.
So I am pleased to announce that the draft South Australian
Strategy for Safeguarding Older People will be available shortly
on the SA Health website for public consultation from late June
and over July and we will advise agencies and peak bodies
when it is up on the site as we are keen to receive as many
comments as possible on this important work.
Once the Strategy is finalised, SA Health Office for the Ageing
will coordinate further development of specific actions for
implementation over the next seven years to ensure the key
outcomes of the strategy are achieved. This will include
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protocols on the ground to guide the way organisations and
services work to assist our older population.
Ageing sector agencies’ views will be sought regarding an
implementation plan and a reporting and evaluation framework
as part of this process.
I encourage you to actively embrace this strategy’s SA Charter
of the Rights and Freedoms of Older People and the
safeguarding principles. This strategy will help us achieve our
vision for the future - a South Australia where older people are
valued and respected, and their rights are safeguarded by the
broader community.
Your participation and commitment to this strategy over the next
seven years is essential. The safety and wellbeing of older
people is a whole of government and community responsibility.
Working together, we will strengthen a culture of respect and
appreciation, among all generations, where we can empower
and ensure older people live positive and fulfilling lives.
Together, our actions will help realise this vision and build
stronger communities committed to safeguarding older people.
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Over the next two days, I encourage you to soak up the
atmosphere of this National Elder Abuse Conference. ARAS
has pulled together an exciting program that is certain to
inspire, guide and challenge you. The only issue, which I am
sure most of you will agree with, will be which sessions to
attend.
A conference like this achieves a great deal. By everyone being
in the same place at the same time, stronger networks are
forged and new opportunities unfolded.
Developing a shared vision for national priorities makes for a
purposeful national agenda for the prevention of abuse of older
people… I dare you to be inspired… to explore new areas, and
to return to your respective locations with new ideas as to how
to do things differently… and collectively.
It’s time to build a national approach - to address the rights of
older people. After two days immersion, delegates will have an
opportunity to engage in a panel discussion where, as a nation,
the Australian States and Territories can have the necessary
dialogue to strengthen our actions around the protection of
older people and their rights.
Representatives from State and Territory
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Thank you to all who have been involved in preparations to
make this event possible. I wish you a stimulating next two days
and I look forward to hearing the conference outcomes in the
near future.
Thank you
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