Member briefing: Until every Victorian is safe – Third Rolling Action Plan to End Family and Sexual Violence 2025-2027

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The Victorian Government has launched Until every Victorian is Safe: Third Rolling Action Plan (RAP) to End Family and Sexual Violence 2025–2027 as part of its commitment to building a future where every person is safe, respected, and free from violence. This plan supports the ongoing implementation of Ending Family Violence: Victoria’s Plan for Change.

What the plan means

The Third RAP sets out what the Victorian Government will do over the next three years to prevent and respond to family and sexual violence across the state. It focusses on:

• Prevention: Reducing the risk of violence before it occurs.
• Support: Strengthening responses to victim-survivors.
• Accountability: Ensuring perpetrators are held responsible.
• Capacity building: Improving services, systems, and community awareness to respond effectively.

How the plan addresses elder abuse­­

For the first time, the Third RAP explicitly recognises elder abuse as a pervasive form of family violence. This is an important step forward. The plan acknowledges that:

• Older people experience unique forms of abuse, often at the hands of family members.
• Ageism and dependency can make it harder for older people to speak up or seek support.
• Services and professionals need training and resources to respond effectively to older people at risk.

This recognition validates what older Victorians, advocates, and organisations like COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria (SRV) have been saying for many years: elder abuse is family violence, and it must be taken seriously.

The Third RAP commits to five actions specific to elder abuse:

1. Release a primary prevention of elder abuse framework and embed it in the work of the Elder Abuse Prevention Networks.
2. Address the drivers of elder abuse in government-funded primary prevention programs, including through integration into program guidelines.
3. Build engagement with the Elder Abuse Learning Hub and key services.
4. Deliver a practice development program to specialist family violence case management organisations and The Orange Door, to better identify and respond to elder abuse.
5. Ensure that the newly formed Senior Victorians Advisory Committee’s work program includes a focus on elder abuse.

Why this matters

A plan like this can help turn promises into real change in people’s lives. For older Victorians, it means:

• Knowing where to turn: Clearer systems and better services mean it should be easier to find help.
• Being listened to: When elder abuse is recognised as family violence, the experiences of older people cannot be brushed aside.
• Greater protection: Stronger laws, better training for workers, and more awareness in the community all help keep older people safe.
• A safer future: By naming and tackling the problem now, we can reduce the risk of elder abuse now, and into the future.

Most importantly, it’s about making sure that Victorians of all ages feel safe and valued in their own home, with their family, and in the wider community.

What we are advocating for

While this recognition of elder abuse and the work of COTA Victoria and SRV is welcome, more can, and should, be done. We are calling on the Government to:

1. Prioritise elder abuse as a distinct focus area within the family violence reform agenda, with clear goals and measures.
2. Invest in elder-specific services including legal advice, counselling, case management, and specialist phone and online supports to enable a timely response to current demand.
3. Strengthen workforce training so family violence, aged care, health, and community service workers can identify and respond appropriately to elder abuse.
4. Run statewide public awareness campaigns to reduce ageism, increase understanding of elder abuse, and encourage reporting and help-seeking.
5. Engage older Victorians in co-design ensuring that people with lived experience help shape future policy, prevention and response services.
6. Ensure accountability by publishing transparent progress reports on how elder abuse prevention and response initiatives are being delivered.

In summary

The Third RAP is a milestone in recognising elder abuse as a serious form of family violence. But recognition is only the first step. We will continue to work with government to ensure this plan delivers real, practical change so that every older Victorian can live free from abuse.