Relationships Australia’s Peel Senior Relationship Service becomes available in South West and Great Southern

Elderly people across the South West are set to receive much needed support for abuse and ageing-related issues. Relationships Australia WA recently announced the Peel Senior Relationship Service was now available for older people living in the South West and Great Southern. The organisation said the service helped seniors make informed decisions on a range of ageing-related issues and offered free case management and mediation for older people and their families. Since 2019 the service has supported more than 140 people — including individuals, partners, carers and family members — to find solutions to ageing-related issues including elder abuse. The Attorney General’s Department funded the extension of the service earlier this year to help support those living in regional communities. Program manager Charmaine Kennedy said the system around elderly abuse needed to be fixed. “There is no mandatory reporting for elderly abuse,” she said. “It is at times a hidden type of abuse. “A lot of this abuse is happening in the home by their own family members and they don’t want to report to any service who will go to the police.” Ms Kennedy said this program was important as it focused on doing what elderly people think is best for them. “The elderly don’t have a lot of representation at the moment in terms of a case management model,” she said. “It is so important to listen to the elderly person and to actually acknowledge and validate what they are saying.” Relationships Australia said in a media release the service would help facilitate difficult conversations on issues that involved family conflict. The organisation also said the program would help older people to plan for the future and provide referrals for legal advice. The PSRS team will visit Collie, Albany and Augusta later this month and present to local communities about the support they can access. Ms Kennedy said the service would be using technology to stay in contact with people in regional areas. “We have been able to overcome these barriers and offer significant assistance to the most vulnerable clients living in elder abuse situations,” she said. “We now know we can offer the service in different and more efficient ways to be more accessible for everyone who needs support.”