Melville Raises Awareness of Elder Abuse

With two to five per cent of older Western Australians living in fear of abuse, the City of Melville has recognized the importance of becoming more age friendly in the community.

For one week every City of Melville library, community and recreation centre and the City of Melville Civic Centre will host purple themed displays in the foyer. Important information from Advocare about where to find assistance and how to prevent elder abuse will be available.

City of Melville Mayor Russell Aubrey said research conducted by the Department of Communities found there is little understanding of the term 'elder abuse' and support services available to assist victims or potential victims.

“Whilst fear of danger from strangers such as theft and home invasion seems to be prevalent, elder abuse sadly is most likely to come from family or friends where a relationship of trust is broken,” he said.

“Elder abuse can take many forms such as psychological, emotional, physical, sexual, neglect and most commonly financial.

“With elder abuse being widely under-reported it is critical that as a community we learn to identify abuse, promote prevention and most importantly ensure support services are readily available and visible to the elderly.”

For information about elder abuse prevention and support services please visit your local City of Melville facility during the week of 11 to 17 June 2012.

A public forum on Elder Abuse will be held on Monday, 13 August 2012 at 10.00am in the City of Melville Civic Centre, Conference Room, with speakers from Advocare and Northern Suburbs Legal Centre.

For further information please contact Roberta Gripton on 9364 0627.