Age Concern New Zealand supports the National Strategy and Action Plans to eliminate family violence and sexual violence in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Age Concerns have initiated elder abuse work in varying areas of the country from the 1980s, with increasing geographical coverage since then. These services were funded through Lotteries Grants from the early 1990s and, sometime later, with partial funding through the Ministry of Social Development. These contracts included a prevention focus with public awareness raising and education. From 2017 Age Concerns in most regions of the country have been contracted to provide ‘elder abuse response services’ focused on intervention services for older people suspected of experiencing elder abuse and neglect.
Age Concern New Zealand has spearheaded awareness raising of the many abuse and neglect issues for older people for decades through the accumulated knowledge and experience of working with elder abuse across the country. This included Ministry of Social Development contractual requirements to provide coordination, reporting, education for elder abuse workers and public awareness raising up until 2017. However since then, Age Concern New Zealand has continued to advocate for the safety and wellbeing of older people. We remain active in public education about the devastating effects of elder abuse and neglect through providing statistical analysis from the Age Concern intervention services, printed and online information and resources, offering policy advice and submissions on related issues, as well as responding to questions from the public, politicians, media, researchers and students.