Family Law And Domestic Violence In Australia
Domestic violence is prominent across the world, its effect on people renders and imparts traumatic experiences for all age groups. It covers a variety of different types of abuse, whether it be emotional, physical or financial abuse, they all are in effort to obtain dominance or control over anyone in the household. Defined as the violent/aggressive or unethical actions of typically an intimate previous or recent spouse, it can make a person live in constant fear. The legislation which adheres to these forms of abuse is the Domestic and Family Violence protection Act 1989 (Qld). The purpose of this act is to provide further protection for anyone in a household who is victim to domestic violence by either their spousal partner, personal relationship or family member. A DVO stands for Domestic Violence order, it indicates all the rules the victimizer needs to obey, a DVO may be alternated in special cases where it highlights specific boundaries in extremes. This order is given to all significant parties involved, it is a criminal offence to contravene this order and gives right to the aggrieved to call the police when breached. The Family law act 1975 in section 4AB, states that withholding financial expenses which is required to support a family member who is entirely reliant on others is a breach of this act. This act more specifically directs towards the topic I’m issuing, elderly financial abuse. Elderly financial abuse is prominent in modern society, as the stigma exists of elder people’s vulnerability being simple to ill-treat. There is a substantial number of incidents concerning the elderly due to their inability to process things more clearly because of their old age. Domestic elder abuse is more predominant than institutional form of elder abuse. This means the majority of the perpetrators are family members of the victims. The AMA Federal Council have studied that elderly financial abuse would be more prevalent with the aging generation of Australia, as there are more complex and dangerous medical conditions now existent, applying pressure on the already under funded system of care for the elderly.
The younger generation would have access to the elderlies’ resources, due to abuse of either their mental impaired state, isolation and dependence, and reliance on others. Approximately 5 percent of elderlies in a year in Australia have experienced financial abuse, whether it have been financial or physical. The number of these incidents is still expected to increase exponentially in the following years. However, this may be due to the amount of money the government requires. Statistics already concur that as the ageing population of Australia grows in percent, by 2056 the percent of elderly Australians populating the country would increase from 15% to 24%, providing more excuse to assist them in any possible way. The key stakeholders include the perpetrators, the victims, and their families. The perpetrators of this law will be exercised with punishment which the judge sees fit. The actions of the perpetrator would be to either steal or use the victim’s money however they want without consent, or knowingness. The victim (elder) would be the most impacted, since the perpetrator has access to their accessories, their riches and money are susceptible to exploitation. In most cases of elderly financial abuse either the perpetrator who is most often their granddaughters, daughters, or grandsons or sons. The other existing family members would discover that they’re being abused and file a complaint or lawsuit against the perpetrator. This is since the elderlies in most cases do not have a sound mind and perception of what someone in their family is doing to them.
A minor stake holder is the judge, he is the decider of the punishment which the perpetrator receives. Currently the act regarding elderly financial abuse is not covered in Australia. The current issue is seemed to start expanding, where already 440,000 people experience it daily. The issue had already been recognised by the Australian government, even mandating it only recently in 19th of March 2019. The political approach they would use is to promote a National Plan which would respond to the needs of elderlies if they are abused in any form. A DVO is possible although subjects regarding elderly financial abuse should be dealt with separately. As DVO’s do not necessarily apply to or prevent the matter of abusing the economic status of an elderly. They have proven in the past to be ineffective, although they are easy to attain and address a wide range of rules, the enforcement of these orders is not effective. Where in a lot of cases, the perpetrator had breached the DVO, consequently killing or abusing the aggrieved. Recent articles demonstrate that the elderlies are abused financially mostly from either their granddaughters or grandsons, predominantly abusing the fact that they are mentally impaired. Although a legislation had not already been created, the government has plans to launch a National plan which establishes and protects the elderlies from financial abuse. This plan seemingly befits the already standing family law act of 1975 section 4AB, however it more specifically only protects the elderlies from any sort of elderly abuse. The government should increase the penalty for the abuse of elderlies, as their vulnerability portrays that of an undefended individual. By increasing the punishment, the people who have plans to abuse an elder lose much more of an interest as they are frightened as to what would happen to them. To avoid this in the first place would be ideal, however, only that applies to certain cases.
References
- Elder Abuse Statistics & Facts | Elder Justice | NCOA 19/03/2019 https://www. ncoa. org/public-policy-action/elder-justice/elder-abuse-facts/
- https://www. verywellmind. com/financial-abuse-4155224
- https://ama. com. au/media/elder-abuse-likely-rise-ageing-population
- https://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/books/NBK98784/
- https://www. legislation. qld. gov. au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2012-005
- https://www. statetrustees. com. au/community/financial-elder-abuse/
- http://www8. austlii. edu. au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s4ab. html
- https://www. seniorsnews. com. au/news/government-launches-new-plan-to-protect-elders-fro/3675908/
- https://www. seniorsnews. com. au/news/granddaughter-steals-50k-from-grandmother/3501045/
