Preventing financial abuse of elders in Queensland

Dr Emily Moir¹

¹University Of The Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Australia

Routine activity theory argues that guardianship is an important crime prevention tool in which people can deter or intervene to stop crime events. The purpose of this paper is to understand how applying the routine activity approach and the crime triangle may help to enhance capable guardianship to prevent financial abuse of older people. The current study utilises data collected from interviews, focus groups, and an online survey of 184 staff from 57 organisations that work with elder abuse in Queensland. The results outline the issues that staff identified as contributing factors the financial abuse of elders. The paper ends with a discussion of how capable guardianship could be applied to prevent opportunities for elder abuse arising in community settings.

Biography:

Dr Emily Moir is a lecturer in the School of Law and Society at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her work explores the application of guardianship to a variety of crimes including property crimes, elder abuse, sexual violence, and workplace exploitation.