Seniors Rights Victoria only has capacity to respond to calls from older people experiencing or at risk of elder abuse. If your matter is an emergency, please call 000. If you are a concerned friend or family member, please encourage the older person to call us or click here for access to information and resources.
Seniors Rights Victoria is sharing this information from a media release provided by Aged Care Justice and would like to congratulate Rodney Lewis on his appointment to the Order of Australia.
Rodney Lewis, Elderlaw Legal Services Senior Solicitor, legal author, and elder law activist, was appointed to the Order of Australia on 26 January 2023 for his “life-long contribution to human rights and civil liberties both in Australia and more broadly across our region”.
Rodney has championed the rights of older Australians for decades, fighting for
amendments to legislation to promote and enforce the rights of older Australians.
“It’s really only in the last handful of years that lawyers have started to realise that
although they might be able to deal with, say, a conflict over a will, their client would
probably start off by saying ‘my sister has just organised my mother to go down to her
solicitor and make another will…that’s elder abuse, isn’t it?’ says Rodney.
An Australian Law Reform Commission enquiry found, in 2017, that adult children were putting undue pressure on their parents to sign over the family home. It also found that adult children and other trusted people who were responsible for caring for older people were physically, emotionally and sexually abusing them. On the back of that enquiry came the national plan to respond to elder abuse, followed by the royal commission into aged care safety and quality.
Lewis was a pioneer of the work that has led to elder abuse now being taken seriously and tackled, and continues to advocate for better legal protections.
Rodney assists Aged Care Justice by providing legal support services, and assistance on aged care issues, including the production of their aged care legal education material that assists the broader community.
Contact Aged Care Justice for legal support for people in residential aged care.
If you are in Victoria and are experiencing or at risk of elder abuse, help is available through our confidential helpline on 1300 368 821.
If you are a concerned friend or family member, please encourage the older person to call us or you can access information and resources here. You can also find a lawyer via the Law Institute of Victoria website.
If it is an emergency, call 000.
