National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2024–2034
Submission Date: 26 March 2025
The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department’s consultation on the draft National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2024–2034 (the draft National Plan), a joint initiative developed with State and Territory Attorneys-General. The Law Council notes the draft National Plan is informed by the independent evaluation of the first National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians 2019–2023, and has a 10-year term.
The Law Council recognises that the abuse and mistreatment of older people is a pervasive issue with devastating consequences for older Australians, their families and communities, and that more must be done to prevent and respond to the abuse and mistreatment of older people. As such, the Law Council is supportive of the National Plan, including its vision statement, key underpinning principles, and its four Focus Areas.
In this context, we welcome a long-term commitment to ending the abuse and mistreatment of older people in Australia. Governments at all levels need to remain focused on this goal, which can only be achieved with a longer-term plan.
The Law Council’s previous advocacy on the rights of older persons, which still stands and should be considered in conjunction with this submission, includes:
- calling on government to support a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons;1
- seeking commitment to strengthen the rights of older people;2
- seeking greater consistency in laws for financial Enduring Powers of Attorney;3
- advocacy on broader issues such as superannuation death benefits4 and granny flat arrangements;5 and
- recent submissions on the Aged Care Bill 20246 and earlier Exposure Draft.7
1 Law Council of Australia, Calling on government to support a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons (Media release, 1 October 2020) and Urgent action needed to address ageism (Media release, 1 October 2021).
2 Law Council of Australia, Time to strengthen the rights of older people (Media release, 15 June 2021).
3 Law Council of Australia, Achieving Greater Consistency in Laws for Financial Enduring Powers of Attorney (Submission and Media release, 13 December 2023).
4 Law Council of Australia, Proposed reform to superannuation death benefits (Submission, 12 January 2024).
5 Law Council of Australia, Supporting older Australians – exempting granny flat arrangements from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) (Submission, 30 April 2021).
6 Law Council of Australia, Aged Care Bill 2024 (Submission, 16 October 2024).
7 Law Council of Australia, A new Aged Care Act: Exposure Draft – Consultation Paper No. 2 (Submission, 13 March 2024).
Last Updated on 27/05/2025
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