The National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study looked at the nature of elder abuse and its prevalence in the Australian population.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) was commissioned by the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department to conduct a study of the nature of elder abuse and the extent to which it occurs among those in the Australian population aged 65 and over.

The National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study was built on existing research conducted by AIFS and its partners in Elder Abuse National Research: Strengthening the Evidence Base – Stage One. 

The study involved:

• a survey of 7,000 people aged 65 and over who live in the community (i.e. those who are not in residential aged care settings). The survey examined experiences of elder abuse among this population.
• a survey of 3,400 people aged 18–64 years which focussed on knowledge of elder abuse, attitudes to older people and the extent to which participants in the survey provided assistance to older people.

Data was drawn from each survey to better understand the experiences of older Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people in Australia. This aspect of the research provides insight into the prevalence and characteristics of abuse of older CALD people, as well as the contexts in which the abuse occurs and how their experiences of abuse may differ from the general population.