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Elder Abuse Service

Legal Aid NSW specialist service for older people on the Central Coast or in the Lower Hunter region (including Newcastle)

The Legal Aid NSW Elder Abuse Service is a specialist service based at the Gosford Legal Aid Office. The service is focussed on supporting older people at risk of or experiencing elder abuse.

The Elder Abuse Service is made up of both lawyers and social workers to support older people to find appropriate remedies for their circumstances.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), elder abuse is: "a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person”.

Elder abuse most commonly takes the form of psychological abuse, followed by neglect, financial abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse.

To be eligible for this service you must:

  • be 65 years or older, or 50 or over for our Aboriginal people
  • reside on the Central Coast or in the Lower Hunter region (including Newcastle)
  • be experiencing or at risk of elder abuse and
  • consent to being referred to our service.

Advice, advocacy and representation 

The Elder Abuse Service can help you with advice, assistance and in some circumstances, representation for the following legal problems: 

  • housing and granny flat matters
  • Centrelink debts
  • family breakdown
  • informal loans
  • AVOs
  • Guardianship and Powers of Attorney*
  • physical and sexual abuse
  • financial abuse and
  • psychological abuse (bullying, harassment, isolation and neglect)

*We cannot help you with drafting and executing wills, Powers of Attorney, Enduring Guardians or Advanced Care Directives.

Community Legal Education

The EAS is committed to raising awareness of elder abuse in our communities.

Our staff are available to deliver elder abuse training sessions to community members, community workers, health workers and staff who work with older community members.

Other elder abuse resources delivered by our service include:

To organise an elder abuse training session, please email our service at: elderservice@legalaid.nsw.gov.au

You can contact our service with any questions, referrals or to make an appointment by:

Phone: (02) 4324 5611

Email: elderservice@legalaid.nsw.gov.au

Resources

Age, Abuse and Justice podcast

YouTube case studies about elder abuse presented by Tanya Chapman