September 25, 2025 • 16 mins
Australian retirees are wealthier than ever, thanks to decades of superannuation growth and soaring property values. But with that prosperity has come a disturbing rise in inheritance impatience – where children and relatives pressure older Australians to hand over their savings early.
In this episode of the Bloomberg Australia Podcast, Chris Bourke speaks with economy reporter Swati Pandey about the rise of financial elder abuse. They discuss how housing pressures, the cost of living and wealth divides are fueling this trend, as well as the toll it takes on victims and what’s being done to better protect retirees.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
A father a fleet of more than two hundred thousand
dollars in a shocking case of elder abuse has called
for more financial safeguards. It's often called inheritance in patience,
this sense of entitlement that some older adults feel about
their parents' money, that somehow it's their money and they
can start spending it.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
My whole will Kristni but Hey has completely changed my
life completely.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I don't trust anybody now.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Australian retirees are wealthier than ever thanks to three decades
of booming superannuation savings, but not all families are prepared
to wait for their slice of that fortune, and some
are going to great lengths to get their hands on
it sooner. Hello. I'm Chris Burke and welcome to the
Bloomberg Australia Podcast. On this show, we normally dive into
(00:52):
the financial or economic forces that are shaping Australia. This week, however,
we're turning to a more sensitive trend, but one that's
being fueled by the nation's increasing financial divide, and that
is the rise of elder financial abuse. To explore what's
happening and why this is becoming more common in Australia.
(01:13):
I'm joined by our Sydney based economy reporter Swatty Pandy Swarty.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Thank you Chris. Happy to be here, Swusy.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
So you've spent quite a few months speaking with people
about this rather distressing topic for an important story that
you research with our pensions reporter Amy Bainbridge. Some of
those people have gone through really difficult experiences and one
of them was a retired nurse called Joan. Tell us
(01:43):
what happened to Joan.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
So Jones.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That's not her real name, and we are using a
pseudonym to protect her identities. She's in her seventies. She
worked as a nurse and was a lifelong renter. She
retired with about seventy thousand Ossie dollars and she gave
the money to a family member who told her they'd
build her a granny flat at the back of their house,
(02:10):
which was a great outcome for her because she would
then have a place to live in Unfortunately, that's not
how it turned out because the apartment was never finished.
It didn't have a properly functioned in kitchen or laundry,
which meant that Joan had to rely on the main
house and that led to tensions with the people in
(02:31):
the main house, and the tensions worsened to the point
where within a year Joan.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Was forced to pack up and leave.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So she didn't have any of her savings because she
gave it to the family member. She now did not
have a home to live either, she did not have
a safety net and she was basically out in the streets.
And worryingly be found through our reporting that Jone's case
is not isolated. This is a growing trend Aralia and elsewhere,
(03:01):
even other developed economies.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
So right, so Joanes thought that she was securing a
permanent home for the rest of her retirement. Basically this
is this granny flat that the family member is going
to build in the backyard, and that just all kind
of that fell apart clearly. Look when we talk about
financial abuse, what exactly do we mean by that and
(03:24):
why why are Australian retirees becoming more vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So financial abuse is when someone takes advantage of another
person's money or assets without their full consent. So that
can mean pressuring them into handing over cash, or misusing
their bank accounts, or even cursing them into changing wills
or property titles and we heard examples of all of
this in our reporting. In particular, when we talk about
(03:53):
financial elder abuse, there are two forms. One is inheritance impatience,
which accounts for significant share of abuse, where children pressure
parents to release funds early so they are not willing
to wait for the parents to pass. Then there is
inheritance preservation, where children prevent their parents from spending the
(04:15):
money because the children think that you know, it's the
money that they will inherit, so they do things like
blocking access to services or blocking access to alternate housing
or care arrangements, which often leads to neglect or premature death.
To answer your second question, Chris, why Australian retirees are
becoming more vulnerable to this one is that they have
(04:39):
a significant saving spot. So overall Australia's retirement saving is
four point three trillion dollars. That's massive. They also hold
a significant wealth in the form of property, so just
in Sydney for example, in the past twenty years or so,
property prices have surged by more than one hundred and
(05:01):
fifty two hundred percent depending upon where you are. And
at the same time, they face declining health as they age,
there is greater reliance on cares. There is sometimes social
isolation which makes it easier for others to exploit them.
And the worst bit of news is that it's family members,
in most cases mostly children, who do this.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
That's a key point right. So well, growth in our
pension system has been widely, very widely celebrated around the world.
The fact that older people now have more money to
support them in their retirement has actually made them targets
within their own family. So how big are the average
superbalances in Australia? What kind of sums are we're looking at?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So the average balance for men is about one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars, for women is about one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. But as you near retirement the
amounts are law bigger. So you know, like for example,
if you walked through your life cycle, you could have
(06:08):
somewhere around five hundred thousand, six hundred thousand dollars as well.
It just depends on you know, what you were working,
what sector you were working in, how much you earned.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yeah, that's that's a fair bit of that's a fair
bit of cash to have in your retirement. Do we
do we have any local data to show just how
much this elder financial abuse is on the increase in Australia.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
So this problem is largely unreported Chris, because as I said,
a lot of the time children are involved, so parents
are unwilling to press charges, report to the police. Sometimes
they don't even realize this is happening to them. So
and government, the government and other bodies are still trying
(06:53):
to find the extent of the problem.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So we don't really have official.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Stats, but there are some data that we can look
to get an idea of what's happening here. So there
was a twenty twenty analysis that was done by Helpline
run by Seniors Rights Victoria, which is an Australian service
which aims at preventing elder abuse, and that showed us
sixty three percent rise in calls over seven years and
(07:20):
most dealt with psychological abuse or financial abuse.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Sixty three percent. That is a significant increase. Look at
the other end of spectrum, we have a huge affordability
crisis in housing in Australia. There's lots of people, younger
people struggling to get onto the property market. How much
of a role is that playing in the financial abuse
(07:46):
of elders.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
A big one.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Rising property prices mean many older Australians now set on
homes worth far more than super or savings, and that
wealth has beig a target, with family members or others
pressuring them to sell, refinance or even handover title deeds.
And while the retirees or the seniors have become wealthier
(08:13):
with this property investment, the younger generation have struggled to
get their foot in the door and get even by
their first home. And that inequality is also causing is
also one of the causes.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Of this financial abuse of filters.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Look, so that's yeah, that's where the tension lies here,
a lot of cash retirees who are perhaps getting a
bit more vulnerable, and then these increasingly desperate younger people
who want to get their hands on their inheritance. Earlier,
you spoke to quite a few people for this. As
I said earlier, Look what other kind of examples of
this financial abuse did you uncover in your reporting.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yes, we heard of stories where grandparents were for into
signing over property deeds under threats of losing access to
their grandchildren, retirement savings being siffoned off after children were
added as trustees of self managed pension funds. One of
the lawyers we spoke with, the Marian Dmeistri, who is
(09:18):
also a lecturer at McCorry University in Sydney. She told
us she's been getting a number of calls on a
regular basis from adult children wanting to know if they
can get an early inheritance or how they can get
financial assistance to pay off mortgages. They also spoke with
Financial Advice Association of Australia Sarah Aboud, who told us
that younger people are increasingly not wanting to wait until
(09:40):
their parents die. And these are just some of the
examples and we are still scratching the surface.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
So that's pretty sobering stuff there. When we come back,
why elder financial abuse is not only a problem in Australia.
Welcome back to the Bloomberg Australia Podcast. I'm Chris Burk,
and today I'm talking to economy reporter Swarsy Pandy about
elder financial abuse in Australia. We're looking at how this
(10:09):
behavior is on the increase as retirees, superbalancs get higher,
people live longer, and younger generations are finding it even
harder to get on the housing ladder swarsy. So those
are the main factors I just summarize that are contributing
to the rise of this trend in Australia. But this
is actually quite a trend that's on the rise globally, right,
(10:30):
what do we know about that?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, So one of the other factors that we have
seen off late is cost of living crisis, financial pressures
that people are facing. And this is not just Australia again,
it's a worldwide problem and the issue demands urgent attention.
So cases worldwide, like in Australia, are heavily under reported,
and that's largely because family members are involved.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Conviction rates are low.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
In the US, it is estimated that the victim of
elder financial exploitation lose twenty eight billion dollars annually, with
perpetrators ranging from family members, quintences, or professional criminals. Even
in the UK, the charity hour Glass, which is a
specialist elder abuse organization, it estimates that financial or economic
(11:17):
abuse costs society over sixteen billion pounds annually and their
projection is that it could rise to twenty five billion
a year by twenty fifty if no.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Action is taken.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Wow, those are big numbers, twenty eight billion in the US.
But aside from that financial impact, look, what does this
do to victims lives? I mean, what's happened What's happened
to Joan for example, the case that you talked about
at the start of this podcast.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
So in Jones's case, she was able to enter mediation
with the help of a lawyer from a community organization,
and clearly the family member had refused to give any
money or get her back into the cabin, so which
is why she ultimately had no other resort but to
(12:10):
bring in a lawyer, and she got most of her
money back and she found emergency accommodation as well. But
the fallout has included a breakdown of family relationship and
she's also not in a very good place mentally. She
told us she's getting counseling as well. And to answer
(12:33):
the other question on you know, outside of financial impact,
this this this can be pretty devastating for older people,
especially if you've lived a decent life, you've retired, and
you're looking forward to kind of like a nice peaceful life,
maybe spend time with your children, grandchildren, But then something
(12:55):
like this happens at erodes. Trust it erodes your independence.
It leaves you feeling isolated, ashamed, in some cases betrayed
by those closest to them. It can trigger mental health
issues like anxiety or depression, increase stress related physical health
problems as well, and in some cases like Joan, drives
(13:19):
people out of their own homes or communities. And that
loss of control over finances also means less ability to
make choices about care about their lifestyle and dignity later
in life.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Okay, so let's try and end this on a positive note.
What is actually being done to prevent the rise of
older financial abuse in Australia.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Look, there is a lot of consultation, advocacy and proposals
happening in Australia. The government has done a number of
inquiries as well.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
This is a topic.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
That people generally do talk about, whether it's financial advisors,
whether it's animation funds or banks. So it's topic du
jour and hopefully we will have concrete measures in a
few months time. There is a national helpline. Their banks
are being trained to spot suspicious transactions as well. Financial
(14:16):
advisors are being trained to spot suspicious transactions or kind
of suspicious dealings. Australia's Age Discrimination Commissioner is working with
the Attorney General's Department to establish what they are calling
a Financial Elder.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Abuse Action Collaborative.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It's a big word, but the collaborative is designed to
bring banks, super animation funds, financial credit providers, financial planners, advisors,
customer support groups, community legal centers, all of these together,
people who are responsible to provide the service and can
prevent such an abuse from happening at the start, or
(14:54):
can respond when the abuse has actually happened. So what
the Age Discrimination Come is doing is not a review,
it's not an inquiry. It's actually trying to create some
level of consistency and coherency in the entire process so
that it's kind of like an Australia wide response.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Right now, it's.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Individual banks doing it or individual some state doing something.
It's not coherent, it's not consistent. So that's the need
of the.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Hourur right, Okay, but what about for retirees themselves? What
steps can they take to make sure this doesn't happen
to them?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So for prevention, what we gathered from are reporting is
that retirees are encouraged to put trusted legal arrangements in place,
and they should check their accounts regularly, so you shouldn't
like one hundred percent of a lie, even if it's
your son or daughter, check your accounts regularly. Stays socially connected.
(15:52):
That is really key because isolation makes people far more vulnerable.
If something feels off, getting advice from I'm a lawyer
or a financial counselor, or even calling the Elder Abuse
helpline can make all the difference. So it's kind of
combining stronger systems that the government can create with individual vigilance,
(16:15):
and that can really be that way we can really
make sure that older Australians can enjoy their retirement with
financial security and dignity.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Okay, thank you, that's good advice. This is an important
story and we will be monitoring it as we go forward.
Thank you Swati for joining us on the podcast today.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Thank you Chris for having me.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
If you found today's conversation insightful, be sure to follow
the Bloomberg Australia podcast wherever you listen. This episode was
recorded on the traditional lands of the Warundry and gategor peoples.
It was produced by Paul Allen and edited by Ainsley Chandler.
I'm chris Burg. See you next week.
A father a fleet of more than two hundred thousand
dollars in a shocking case of elder abuse has called
for more financial safeguards. It's often called inheritance in patience,
this sense of entitlement that some older adults feel about
their parents' money, that somehow it's their money and they
can start spending it.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
My whole will Kristni but Hey has completely changed my
life completely.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I don't trust anybody now.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Australian retirees are wealthier than ever thanks to three decades
of booming superannuation savings, but not all families are prepared
to wait for their slice of that fortune, and some
are going to great lengths to get their hands on
it sooner. Hello. I'm Chris Burke and welcome to the
Bloomberg Australia Podcast. On this show, we normally dive into
(00:52):
the financial or economic forces that are shaping Australia. This week, however,
we're turning to a more sensitive trend, but one that's
being fueled by the nation's increasing financial divide, and that
is the rise of elder financial abuse. To explore what's
happening and why this is becoming more common in Australia.
(01:13):
I'm joined by our Sydney based economy reporter Swatty Pandy Swarty.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Thank you Chris. Happy to be here, Swusy.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
So you've spent quite a few months speaking with people
about this rather distressing topic for an important story that
you research with our pensions reporter Amy Bainbridge. Some of
those people have gone through really difficult experiences and one
of them was a retired nurse called Joan. Tell us
(01:43):
what happened to Joan.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
So Jones.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That's not her real name, and we are using a
pseudonym to protect her identities. She's in her seventies. She
worked as a nurse and was a lifelong renter. She
retired with about seventy thousand Ossie dollars and she gave
the money to a family member who told her they'd
build her a granny flat at the back of their house,
(02:10):
which was a great outcome for her because she would
then have a place to live in Unfortunately, that's not
how it turned out because the apartment was never finished.
It didn't have a properly functioned in kitchen or laundry,
which meant that Joan had to rely on the main
house and that led to tensions with the people in
(02:31):
the main house, and the tensions worsened to the point
where within a year Joan.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Was forced to pack up and leave.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So she didn't have any of her savings because she
gave it to the family member. She now did not
have a home to live either, she did not have
a safety net and she was basically out in the streets.
And worryingly be found through our reporting that Jone's case
is not isolated. This is a growing trend Aralia and elsewhere,
(03:01):
even other developed economies.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
So right, so Joanes thought that she was securing a
permanent home for the rest of her retirement. Basically this
is this granny flat that the family member is going
to build in the backyard, and that just all kind
of that fell apart clearly. Look when we talk about
financial abuse, what exactly do we mean by that and
(03:24):
why why are Australian retirees becoming more vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So financial abuse is when someone takes advantage of another
person's money or assets without their full consent. So that
can mean pressuring them into handing over cash, or misusing
their bank accounts, or even cursing them into changing wills
or property titles and we heard examples of all of
this in our reporting. In particular, when we talk about
(03:53):
financial elder abuse, there are two forms. One is inheritance impatience,
which accounts for significant share of abuse, where children pressure
parents to release funds early so they are not willing
to wait for the parents to pass. Then there is
inheritance preservation, where children prevent their parents from spending the
(04:15):
money because the children think that you know, it's the
money that they will inherit, so they do things like
blocking access to services or blocking access to alternate housing
or care arrangements, which often leads to neglect or premature death.
To answer your second question, Chris, why Australian retirees are
becoming more vulnerable to this one is that they have
(04:39):
a significant saving spot. So overall Australia's retirement saving is
four point three trillion dollars. That's massive. They also hold
a significant wealth in the form of property, so just
in Sydney for example, in the past twenty years or so,
property prices have surged by more than one hundred and
(05:01):
fifty two hundred percent depending upon where you are. And
at the same time, they face declining health as they age,
there is greater reliance on cares. There is sometimes social
isolation which makes it easier for others to exploit them.
And the worst bit of news is that it's family members,
in most cases mostly children, who do this.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
That's a key point right. So well, growth in our
pension system has been widely, very widely celebrated around the world.
The fact that older people now have more money to
support them in their retirement has actually made them targets
within their own family. So how big are the average
superbalances in Australia? What kind of sums are we're looking at?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
So the average balance for men is about one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars, for women is about one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. But as you near retirement the
amounts are law bigger. So you know, like for example,
if you walked through your life cycle, you could have
(06:08):
somewhere around five hundred thousand, six hundred thousand dollars as well.
It just depends on you know, what you were working,
what sector you were working in, how much you earned.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yeah, that's that's a fair bit of that's a fair
bit of cash to have in your retirement. Do we
do we have any local data to show just how
much this elder financial abuse is on the increase in Australia.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
So this problem is largely unreported Chris, because as I said,
a lot of the time children are involved, so parents
are unwilling to press charges, report to the police. Sometimes
they don't even realize this is happening to them. So
and government, the government and other bodies are still trying
(06:53):
to find the extent of the problem.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So we don't really have official.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Stats, but there are some data that we can look
to get an idea of what's happening here. So there
was a twenty twenty analysis that was done by Helpline
run by Seniors Rights Victoria, which is an Australian service
which aims at preventing elder abuse, and that showed us
sixty three percent rise in calls over seven years and
(07:20):
most dealt with psychological abuse or financial abuse.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
Sixty three percent. That is a significant increase. Look at
the other end of spectrum, we have a huge affordability
crisis in housing in Australia. There's lots of people, younger
people struggling to get onto the property market. How much
of a role is that playing in the financial abuse
(07:46):
of elders.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
A big one.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Rising property prices mean many older Australians now set on
homes worth far more than super or savings, and that
wealth has beig a target, with family members or others
pressuring them to sell, refinance or even handover title deeds.
And while the retirees or the seniors have become wealthier
(08:13):
with this property investment, the younger generation have struggled to
get their foot in the door and get even by
their first home. And that inequality is also causing is
also one of the causes.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Of this financial abuse of filters.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Look, so that's yeah, that's where the tension lies here,
a lot of cash retirees who are perhaps getting a
bit more vulnerable, and then these increasingly desperate younger people
who want to get their hands on their inheritance. Earlier,
you spoke to quite a few people for this. As
I said earlier, Look what other kind of examples of
this financial abuse did you uncover in your reporting.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yes, we heard of stories where grandparents were for into
signing over property deeds under threats of losing access to
their grandchildren, retirement savings being siffoned off after children were
added as trustees of self managed pension funds. One of
the lawyers we spoke with, the Marian Dmeistri, who is
(09:18):
also a lecturer at McCorry University in Sydney. She told
us she's been getting a number of calls on a
regular basis from adult children wanting to know if they
can get an early inheritance or how they can get
financial assistance to pay off mortgages. They also spoke with
Financial Advice Association of Australia Sarah Aboud, who told us
that younger people are increasingly not wanting to wait until
(09:40):
their parents die. And these are just some of the
examples and we are still scratching the surface.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
So that's pretty sobering stuff there. When we come back,
why elder financial abuse is not only a problem in Australia.
Welcome back to the Bloomberg Australia Podcast. I'm Chris Burk,
and today I'm talking to economy reporter Swarsy Pandy about
elder financial abuse in Australia. We're looking at how this
(10:09):
behavior is on the increase as retirees, superbalancs get higher,
people live longer, and younger generations are finding it even
harder to get on the housing ladder swarsy. So those
are the main factors I just summarize that are contributing
to the rise of this trend in Australia. But this
is actually quite a trend that's on the rise globally, right,
(10:30):
what do we know about that?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, So one of the other factors that we have
seen off late is cost of living crisis, financial pressures
that people are facing. And this is not just Australia again,
it's a worldwide problem and the issue demands urgent attention.
So cases worldwide, like in Australia, are heavily under reported,
and that's largely because family members are involved.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Conviction rates are low.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
In the US, it is estimated that the victim of
elder financial exploitation lose twenty eight billion dollars annually, with
perpetrators ranging from family members, quintences, or professional criminals. Even
in the UK, the charity hour Glass, which is a
specialist elder abuse organization, it estimates that financial or economic
(11:17):
abuse costs society over sixteen billion pounds annually and their
projection is that it could rise to twenty five billion
a year by twenty fifty if no.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Action is taken.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Wow, those are big numbers, twenty eight billion in the US.
But aside from that financial impact, look, what does this
do to victims lives? I mean, what's happened What's happened
to Joan for example, the case that you talked about
at the start of this podcast.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
So in Jones's case, she was able to enter mediation
with the help of a lawyer from a community organization,
and clearly the family member had refused to give any
money or get her back into the cabin, so which
is why she ultimately had no other resort but to
(12:10):
bring in a lawyer, and she got most of her
money back and she found emergency accommodation as well. But
the fallout has included a breakdown of family relationship and
she's also not in a very good place mentally. She
told us she's getting counseling as well. And to answer
(12:33):
the other question on you know, outside of financial impact,
this this this can be pretty devastating for older people,
especially if you've lived a decent life, you've retired, and
you're looking forward to kind of like a nice peaceful life,
maybe spend time with your children, grandchildren, But then something
(12:55):
like this happens at erodes. Trust it erodes your independence.
It leaves you feeling isolated, ashamed, in some cases betrayed
by those closest to them. It can trigger mental health
issues like anxiety or depression, increase stress related physical health
problems as well, and in some cases like Joan, drives
(13:19):
people out of their own homes or communities. And that
loss of control over finances also means less ability to
make choices about care about their lifestyle and dignity later
in life.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Okay, so let's try and end this on a positive note.
What is actually being done to prevent the rise of
older financial abuse in Australia.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Look, there is a lot of consultation, advocacy and proposals
happening in Australia. The government has done a number of
inquiries as well.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
This is a topic.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
That people generally do talk about, whether it's financial advisors,
whether it's animation funds or banks. So it's topic du
jour and hopefully we will have concrete measures in a
few months time. There is a national helpline. Their banks
are being trained to spot suspicious transactions as well. Financial
(14:16):
advisors are being trained to spot suspicious transactions or kind
of suspicious dealings. Australia's Age Discrimination Commissioner is working with
the Attorney General's Department to establish what they are calling
a Financial Elder.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Abuse Action Collaborative.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It's a big word, but the collaborative is designed to
bring banks, super animation funds, financial credit providers, financial planners, advisors,
customer support groups, community legal centers, all of these together,
people who are responsible to provide the service and can
prevent such an abuse from happening at the start, or
(14:54):
can respond when the abuse has actually happened. So what
the Age Discrimination Come is doing is not a review,
it's not an inquiry. It's actually trying to create some
level of consistency and coherency in the entire process so
that it's kind of like an Australia wide response.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Right now, it's.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Individual banks doing it or individual some state doing something.
It's not coherent, it's not consistent. So that's the need
of the.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Hourur right, Okay, but what about for retirees themselves? What
steps can they take to make sure this doesn't happen
to them?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So for prevention, what we gathered from are reporting is
that retirees are encouraged to put trusted legal arrangements in place,
and they should check their accounts regularly, so you shouldn't
like one hundred percent of a lie, even if it's
your son or daughter, check your accounts regularly. Stays socially connected.
(15:52):
That is really key because isolation makes people far more vulnerable.
If something feels off, getting advice from I'm a lawyer
or a financial counselor, or even calling the Elder Abuse
helpline can make all the difference. So it's kind of
combining stronger systems that the government can create with individual vigilance,
(16:15):
and that can really be that way we can really
make sure that older Australians can enjoy their retirement with
financial security and dignity.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Okay, thank you, that's good advice. This is an important
story and we will be monitoring it as we go forward.
Thank you Swati for joining us on the podcast today.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Thank you Chris for having me.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
If you found today's conversation insightful, be sure to follow
the Bloomberg Australia podcast wherever you listen. This episode was
recorded on the traditional lands of the Warundry and gategor peoples.
It was produced by Paul Allen and edited by Ainsley Chandler.
I'm chris Burg. See you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.