Lead
At the 2026 Australian Elder Abuse Conference on the Gold Coast this week, advocates and survivors have called for a fundamental change in how society views and responds to the abuse of older Australians. Among them is 86-year-old Judy Guyton, who spoke publicly about her own experience of financial abuse at the hands of her late son, describing how money became a tool of coercive control.
"At first, it was domestic abuse, then … it went on to financial abuse and senior abuse," Ms Guyton said. "It was like, 'If you don't do this, Mum, you won't be able to do that.' It might be that they needed money: 'I'll pay you back. If you don't help us out, you won't see the kids or the grandchildren.'"
Ms Guyton said that when she finally stopped giving in to her family's financial demands, she knew she would be cut off from seeing her grandchildren ever again. She credits the training she received through the Older Voices for Change program at the Council on the Ageing (COTA) Tasmania with helping her cope with the loss and improve her quality of life.
"I don't have many years left. The training has given me a better quality of life so that my last years will be OK," she said.
Coverage Comparison
Reporting from ABC Australia has focused on both the personal experiences of elder abuse survivors and the broader systemic questions raised at the conference. The stories of Ms Guyton and Maria, a 76-year-old Brisbane woman who was kicked out of her home by her abusive son-in-law in 2022, illustrate the range of abuse older Australians can face within relationships of trust.
Maria, not her real name, described being forced to stand outside her home for hours on a winter's day after her son-in-law threw her belongings onto the driveway. She called police three times but said she felt her experience was not taken seriously until she reached out to a support service. "It's as if a big [burden] was taken off my back because I was just hopeless," she said. "Homeless and hopeless."
The coverage highlights a rise in notifications of abuse to the Elder Abuse Prevention Unit in Queensland, which has increased 82 per cent in the past five years. In 2025, the unit received 2,794 notifications of abuse from more than 4,800 calls. More than 60 per cent of victims choose not to report their experiences or seek help, a figure that underscores concerns about the hidden nature of elder abuse.
Key Claims
According to a 2021 study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), one in six Australians over the age of 65 experiences abuse in a relationship of trust. Adult children are the most common perpetrators of elder abuse, a finding that challenges the perception that abuse is typically carried out by strangers or carers.
In 2021, the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to enact laws specific to the mistreatment, abuse and neglect of "vulnerable" people, including those aged over 60. At the conference, advocates including the Domestic Violence Prevention Centre Gold Coast and Relationships Australia Queensland argued that similar laws are needed to address the unique patterns of coercive control in elder-abuse contexts.
However, a Queensland parliamentary inquiry last year found that the state's justice system already sufficiently captures offences related to elder abuse. This has sparked debate about whether a standalone criminal offence would provide better protection or merely duplicate existing laws.
Advocates at the conference also called for elder abuse to be treated and funded to the same level as family and domestic violence in partner abuse. They emphasised that elder abuse is not a private family matter but a community-wide issue requiring a coordinated response.
Francene Jacques, also a COTA advocate and elder-abuse survivor, was among those speaking at the conference, lending a personal voice to the call for change.