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How our work is improving the lives of older Victorians
For close to 75 years, COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria have worked alongside older people to shape policies, services, and systems that support safety, dignity, inclusion, and quality of life.
In 2024–25, our advocacy helped drive meaningful change across elder abuse prevention, cost-of-living pressures, housing security, and community inclusion. This summary highlights what changed, why it matters, and how older people’s voices helped make it happen.
Stronger protection from elder abuse
What’s changed? Through sustained advocacy, evidence-sharing, and sector leadership, elder abuse is now more clearly recognised and addressed within Victoria’s family violence system than ever before.
Why this matters: Around 1 in 6 older Victorians experiences elder abuse each year. Many older people were overlooked because family violence responses focused primarily on intimate partner violence, not the complex family, financial, and care relationships older people often face.
Our impact: Our advocacy has a direct link to the following outcomes:
- Elder abuse is better embedded in Until Every Victorian Is Safe, the state’s family violence action plan.
- New initiatives are underway, including:
- A primary prevention framework for elder abuse.
- Improved identification and response within family violence services and The Orange Door.
- Stronger links to the Elder Abuse Learning Hub.
- Workforce development to support safer practice.
Through the Victorian Elder Abuse Strategic Alliance, we also helped align sector advocacy, strengthening the collective voice calling for reform.
Lower energy costs and fairer treatment for older consumers
What’s changed? New protections in Victoria’s Energy Retail Code now make it easier for older people to stay connected, avoid disconnection, and access cheaper energy plans.
Why this matters: Many older Victorians live on fixed incomes and face rising energy costs. Disconnection or unaffordable bills can have serious health and safety consequences, particularly during extreme weather.
Our impact: Research and consultation with older people informed reforms that now:
- Increase the disconnection debt threshold from $300 to $1,000.
- Automatically move eligible customers onto cheaper plans.
- Simplify switching to a better offer.
- Improve concession checks.
- Make Ombudsman support visible on bills.
Following continued advocacy, the Victorian Government introduced a Power Saving Bonus for concession card holders, providing direct cost relief to older Victorians.
More inclusive communities and better ageing outcomes
What’s changed? Older people’s needs and voices are being more consistently considered in how communities are planned, consulted, and supported.
Why this matters: When consultations are inaccessible or tokenistic, older people are excluded from decisions that affect their wellbeing, safety, and participation.
Our impact
- Our advocacy was heard, and advice received, via a parliamentary inquiry regarding best practice in engaging older Victorians as part of government consultation processes.
- Councils across Victoria now have stronger tools to support ageing well through updated Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plans, informed by our guidance.
- Older carers’ needs are reflected in the Victorian Carer Strategy 2025–2035, helping ensure carers can sustain their role and wellbeing as they age.
More secure housing for older renters
What’s changed? New funding is now supporting older people to stay housed and avoid housing crises.
Why this matters: More older Victorians are renting than ever before. Many of those renters face insecure tenancies, barriers to home modifications, and a risk of homelessness.
Our impact: Our advocacy via the Victorian State Budget 2025-26 contributed to funding for a new initiative delivered by Seniors Rights Victoria that:
- Provides community education and outreach.
- Supports early intervention before housing problems escalate.
- Strengthens sector responses to the needs of older renters.
This work directly improves housing stability for older people.
Stronger services through better sector capability
What’s changed? Frontline services are better equipped to identify risk, respond safely, and engage older people inclusively.
Why this matters: Older people experience the impact of policy through the quality of services they receive every day.
Our impact: We developed practical guidance for aged care, health, housing, and community services, including:
- Resources to strengthen identification and response to elder abuse.
- An intersectionality guide helping services better identify and develop inclusive prevention and response services to elder abuse.
This sits alongside briefings on leadership pathways, digital inclusivity, and social connection to raise awareness of ways in which services can better represent and engage older Victorians. This strengthens consistency and safety across the systems older people rely on.
Amplifying older people’s voices in policy reform
What’s changed? Older Victorians’ perspectives are shaping state and national reforms across health, disability, consumer protection, and abuse prevention.
Why this matters: Policies that ignore older people’s lived experience risk entrenching inequality and exclusion.
Our impact: We embedded older people’s voices in reforms, plans, and strategies including:
- Disability supports.
- Residential tenancies and retirement villages.
- Ongoing family violence initiatives.
- Health system access and emergency services.
- Consumer protections.
We also supported shared advocacy, including leading the Agenda for Action: Disability Supports for Older Victorians 2025–2029, grounded in the principle that access to support should be based on need, not age.
Engagement drives impact
None of this work happens without older Victorians themselves.
Throughout the year, older people shared their experiences and priorities through surveys, workshops, forums, and public events. During the Victorian Seniors Festival in October, we connected directly with the community to hear what ageing well means and what older people want prioritised for the future. Their voices guide our advocacy and shape our future focus.
Why engage with us?
Our impact is strongest informed by lived experience, our communities, and service providers.
Engagement helps to:
- Identify emerging issues early.
- Ground advocacy in lived experience.
- Strengthen the case for reform.
- Ensure solutions reflect what older people actually need.
Together, we are creating a Victoria where ageing is safer, fairer, and more inclusive.