BY WEALTH ADVISER
Margaret is 74, sharp as ever, and proud of the independence she’s maintained since her husband died six years ago. She pays her own bills, manages her own investments, and still drives to bridge club every Wednesday. She’s exactly the kind of person who would never think of herself as vulnerable to financial abuse.
And yet, when her nephew rang last month asking her to go guarantor on a business loan — just temporarily, he said, just to help him through a rough patch — she found herself saying yes before she’d really thought it through. She hadn’t spoken to her financial adviser. She hadn’t read the documents. She just didn’t want to say no to family.
Margaret’s story is not unusual. Financial elder abuse — the illegal or improper use of an older person’s money, property, or financial resources — is one of the most underreported forms of harm in Australia. The national prevalence study conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found that around 2 per cent of community-dwelling Australians aged 65 and over had experienced financial abuse in the previous 12 months. That translates to an estimated 67,000 to 100,000 older Australians. And because most cases go unreported, the true figure is almost certainly higher.
What makes financial elder abuse particularly difficult to confront is that it doesn’t always look like theft. Sometimes it starts with a request that seems reasonable. Sometimes the person doing it doesn’t even realise they’re crossing a line. And unlike a scam from a stranger, the damage often comes wrapped in a relationship the older person values deeply — which is exactly why it’s so hard to stop.
The threats you’d recognise — and the ones you wouldn’t
Most Australians are now reasonably alert to scams. The Scamwatch campaigns, bank warnings, and media coverage of the past few years have raised awareness of phishing, impersonation fraud, and romance scams (these were covered in detail in a previous article in this series). Older Australians are disproportionately targeted by these schemes, and the financial losses can be devastating — but at least the threat is external, impersonal, and increasingly well understood.
Financial elder abuse within families is a different problem entirely. The AIFS study found that for financial abuse specifically, adult children are the largest group of perpetrators, accounting for around a third of cases. Sons were roughly twice as likely as daughters to be identified as the main perpetrator. The next most common groups were friends and service providers.
The forms it takes are varied. Pressuring a parent to lend or give money is the most commonly reported — cited by 42 per cent of those who experienced financial abuse in the AIFS study. But it also includes using an older person’s bank account or credit card without proper consent, manipulating them into changing a will or signing over property, taking control of finances under the guise of “helping,” and failing to honour financial agreements such as contributing to shared living costs.
The AIFS data also found that more than half of the main perpetrators of financial abuse were experiencing financial problems of their own, and more than a third had mental health issues. This doesn’t excuse the behaviour, but it helps explain the dynamics. Financial elder abuse often emerges not from malice but from pressure, entitlement, or a gradual erosion of boundaries that neither party fully recognises until serious damage has been done. Some commentators have called it “inheritance impatience” — a sense, sometimes unconscious, that the older person’s money is already “the family’s” rather than their own.
Around six in ten older Australians who experienced abuse of any kind did not seek help. For financial abuse specifically, only 30 per cent sought advice from anyone — though nearly eight in ten did take some action to stop it, most commonly by speaking directly to the perpetrator. Taking legal action was more common for financial abuse than for other subtypes, but still only reported by 14 per cent.
Protecting yourself
If you’re an older Australian reading this, the most important thing to understand is that financial abuse is not a reflection of weakness or poor judgment. It happens to people who are intelligent, capable, and engaged. The common thread is not vulnerability in the clinical sense — it’s trust, and the willingness to help people you love.
There are practical steps that reduce the risk without requiring you to become suspicious of everyone around you.
Keep your financial affairs visible to more than one person. If you have a financial adviser, make sure they know who should and shouldn’t have access to your accounts. If a family member offers to “help” with your banking or bills, consider whether you actually need the help — and whether accepting it concentrates too much control in one person’s hands.
Be cautious about guarantees. Going guarantor on someone else’s loan puts your assets at risk if they can’t repay. Before agreeing to any guarantee, insist on independent legal advice — not from the person asking you to sign. A solicitor who acts for you alone can explain the implications in plain language, including the worst-case scenario.
Understand what you’re signing. If someone presents you with a document and says “just sign here,” that’s a reason to slow down, not speed up. Whether it’s a loan agreement, a property transfer, a change to your will, or a new power of attorney, you have every right to take the document away, read it at your own pace, and get independent advice before committing.
Review your power of attorney. If you have an enduring power of attorney in place (covered in detail in a previous article in this series), consider whether the person you appointed is still the right choice and whether the document includes adequate safeguards. You can revoke or amend a POA at any time while you still have capacity. If you’re unsure whether your current document is still fit for purpose, a conversation with your solicitor is one of the most practical things you can do.
Talk to your adviser. Financial advisers see patterns across many clients and are often well placed to notice early warning signs — unusual withdrawals, pressure to liquidate investments, or a sudden new “helper” making decisions on your behalf. Letting your adviser know your wishes clearly, including who you do and don’t want involved in your financial affairs, creates an additional layer of protection.
Protecting someone you love
If you’re a son, daughter, or family friend of an older person, the picture looks different. You may be the one noticing changes that the older person themselves can’t or won’t see. You may also be the one feeling uncomfortable about a sibling or other family member whose relationship with the older person seems to be shifting in ways that don’t feel right.
The signs are not always dramatic. Watch for patterns rather than single events. An older parent who was previously independent but is now relying on one family member for all financial decisions. Unexplained changes to a will or power of attorney, particularly if they coincide with the involvement of a specific person. Unpaid bills in a household that should be comfortably managing its expenses. A parent who seems anxious or evasive when asked about money. New debts or withdrawals that don’t match the person’s usual spending. A family member who becomes defensive or obstructive when others ask questions about the older person’s finances.
None of these individually proves abuse. But a cluster of them warrants a conversation — ideally with the older person first, gently and privately, and then with a professional if the concern persists.
Starting that conversation is the hardest part. Older people may be reluctant to acknowledge the problem because they feel ashamed, because they don’t want to cause family conflict, or because they’re genuinely afraid of the consequences — particularly if the person involved is also their carer or the person they depend on for daily support. Approaching the conversation with care, without accusations, and with a focus on the older person’s safety and wishes is far more likely to produce a result than a confrontational intervention.
If you suspect that an older person is being financially abused, several avenues are available. The national elder abuse helpline (1800 ELDERHelp, or 1800 353 374) provides free, confidential advice and will redirect you to the service in your state or territory. If the abuse involves misuse of a power of attorney, a family member or other interested person can apply to the relevant state or territory tribunal (such as NCAT in New South Wales, VCAT in Victoria, or SACAT in South Australia) to have the POA reviewed or revoked. Banks are also expected under the Banking Code of Practice to take reasonable steps to identify and respond to signs of financial elder abuse, and can place holds or restrictions on accounts where they have concerns.
Power of attorney: protection and risk
An enduring power of attorney is one of the most important protective documents a person can have — but it can also become the mechanism through which financial abuse occurs. A POA that gives a single person unrestricted authority over all financial affairs, with no reporting obligations and no oversight, is an invitation to misuse, however well-intentioned the original appointment may have been.
Safeguards that can be built into a POA include appointing two attorneys to act jointly (requiring both to agree before any action is taken), requiring the attorney to provide regular financial reports to a nominated third party, limiting the types of transactions the attorney can undertake without independent approval, and specifying that the POA only activates when a medical practitioner certifies that the principal has lost capacity — rather than being effective immediately.
These provisions vary in their availability and enforceability across states and territories, so legal advice specific to your jurisdiction is essential. The key point is that a POA doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. It can be tailored to provide meaningful protection while still giving the right person the authority to act when needed. While misuse of a power of attorney can constitute a criminal offence under fraud, theft, or breach-of-trust provisions in every Australian state and territory, there is no single agency that proactively oversees how attorneys exercise their powers — which makes the design of the document itself, and the choice of who to appoint, the primary lines of defence.
If you set up a POA some years ago and haven’t reviewed it since, this is a good prompt to do so — particularly if your circumstances, relationships, or health have changed. The earlier article in this series on power of attorney covers the framework in detail.
What advisers and families can do together
Financial advisers occupy an unusual position in the elder abuse landscape. They see their clients’ financial affairs regularly, they notice changes in behaviour and spending patterns, and they often have long-standing relationships built on trust. That makes them a valuable early-warning system — but only if the lines of communication are clear.
If you’re an older client, consider giving your adviser explicit permission to raise concerns with a nominated family member if they observe something that worries them. This doesn’t mean giving that family member control — it means creating a safety net that respects your autonomy while providing a backstop if something goes wrong.
If you’re a family member, consider asking — gently — whether your parent has thought about who their adviser should contact if they have concerns. Many older Australians haven’t had this conversation, and framing it as a practical safeguard rather than a test of competence makes it easier to raise.
For families navigating these conversations, a few principles help. Start early, before there’s a crisis. Focus on the person’s wishes and autonomy, not on control. Keep the conversation about safety and planning, not blame. And recognise that the goal is not to prevent the older person from making their own decisions — it’s to make sure they’re making those decisions freely, with full information, and without pressure from anyone.
Financial elder abuse thrives in silence, isolation, and the absence of safeguards. The most effective protection isn’t a single document or a single conversation — it’s a culture within the family where money is discussed openly, where the older person’s independence is respected, and where enough people are paying attention that problems are noticed before they become catastrophic.
If something doesn’t feel right, trust that instinct. And if you’re not sure where to start, your financial adviser and your solicitor are both good first calls.
References
• Australian Institute of Family Studies. “National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study: Final Report.” 2021. Nationally representative survey of 7,000 community-dwelling Australians aged 65+.
• Australian Institute of Family Studies. “Elder abuse in Australia: Financial abuse.” Research snapshot, 2022. Findings from the National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study.
• Australian Human Rights Commission. “New project to tackle financial elder abuse.” Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald AM, 2024–2025.
• Australian Banking Association. “Stop financial elder abuse.” Industry guidance on financial abuse prevention, including the Banking Code of Practice obligations. ausbanking.org.au.
• Powers of Attorney Act 2003 (NSW); Powers of Attorney Act 2014 (Vic); Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld); Powers of Attorney and Agency Act 1984 (SA). Relevant state legislation governing enduring powers of attorney.
• Compass (Australian Government). State-by-state guides to enduring powers of attorney, including safeguards, limitations, and witnessing requirements. compass.info.
