Kaspiew, R., Carson, R., & Rhoades, H. (2015). Elder abuse: Understanding issues, frameworks and responses (Research Report No. 35). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Elder Abuse National Research: Strengthening the Evidence Base – Stage One
This project developed an evidence-based, nationally acceptable and usable definition of elder abuse.
Understanding issues, frameworks and responses: Observations from the consultations
AIFS' Dr Rachel Carson recently presented fieldwork observations on developing the Australian definition of elder abuse for research purposes. View presentation to FRSA Conference. [PDF 3.8 MB]
AIFS was commissioned by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department to conduct the Elder Abuse National Research Strengthening the Evidence Base – Stage One project. The project was designed to build on the existing empirical work carried out by AIFS in Elder Abuse: Understanding issues, frameworks and responses.
The project comprised three components, specifically:
- Component One – working in conjunction with the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) to engage with key stakeholders to develop a nationally accepted and usable Australian definition of elder abuse
- Component Two – working with the Social Research Centre (SRC) to develop and test instruments to measure elder abuse against the Australian definition
- Component Three – working with the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) to develop a data analysis plan and conduct secondary data analysis to answer key research questions on elder abuse.
The project commenced with a series of workshops across Australia with key stakeholders and professionals in this field. This was followed by a number of surveys with the elder community, general public and service providers to refine the definition of elder abuse, which informed component three which aimed to develop a comprehensive picture of the contexts, dynamics and risk factors associated with elder abuse by interrogating existing data sources.
More information
View the Elder Abuse Prevention and Support Service contacts by state or territory for those who are at risk or are experiencing Elder Abuse.
Contact
The Elder Abuse National Research Project team
Email: eanr@aifs.gov.au
Publications
Kaspiew, R., Carson, R., Dow, B., Qu, L., Hand, K., Roopani, D., Gahan, L., & O'Keeffe, D. (2019). Elder Abuse National Research - Strengthening the Evidence Base: Research definition background paper. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Researching elder abuse
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