Submissions

Seniors Rights Victoria strongly supports the State Disability Plan and the Victorian Autism Plan as important drivers of practical action to improve inclusion, accessibility and equity for Victorians with disability.

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria welcome the opportunity to contribute to DEECA’s consultation on reforming prices and consumer protections for customers in embedded electricity and gas networks. We support the proposed direction of reform and, rather than commenting on the broader embedded network framework, this submission focuses on one cohort that requires particular attention: older Victorians living in retirement villages.

This submission reflects on the proposals through the lens of older Victorians at a heightened level of risk, with particular attention to those experiencing intersectional disadvantage and/or digital exclusion.

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria welcome the latest set of Essential Services Commission proposals to strengthen protections for Victorian energy consumers through the Energy Retail Code of Practice.

Elder abuse is both prevalent and under-recognised within Australia. Annually, approximately one in six (14.8%) older Australians experience some form of elder abuse. Research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) in 2021i found that psychological abuse is the most common form, followed by financial abuse – a trend that mirrors the case data of Seniors Rights Victoria.

The Department of Justice and Community Safety has proposed three options for remaking the VCAT fee Regulations. COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria support Option 3.

In making this submission, we highlight the importance of specifically addressing the needs of older people, both as a large proportion of those living with a disability and in relation to other aspects of ageing that also impact on accessibility and support needs

COTA Victoria commends the current draft Community Infrastructure Plan; the feedback provided through this submission is intended to strengthen the Plan rather than reframe it.

Evidence suggests that elder abuse is a significant, growing, and distinct form of family violence that intersects with suicide risk in later life yet remains inadequately captured within current systems. Improving the visibility of elder abuse across prevention, service delivery, data collection, and coronial investigation is critical to strengthening DFSV-related suicide prevention and ensuring that older people are not overlooked in policy, practice, and reform efforts.

We are pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the finalisation of new guidelines on payment of rates and charges to local councils across Victoria.

This submission reflects emerging pressures across Victoria’s elder abuse and family violence systems. It calls for strategic investment through the 2026–27 Victorian State Budget to strengthen prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery.

We set out a select collection of funding initiatives under the umbrella of five priority areas that we believe warrant serious consideration across Victorian Government portfolios for support in the 2026-27 Victorian State Budget.

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria hear regularly from older Victorians with a disability who have experienced discrimination in workplaces, services and other areas of public life.

Seniors Rights Victoria welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this inquiry into community consultation practices in Victoria.

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria welcome the opportunity to provide feedback on the challenges facing Ambulance Victoria (AV), particularly concerning call-taking, dispatch, ambulance ramping, paramedic working conditions, and the broader implications these issues have for older Victorians.

COTA Victoria and SRV broadly support the direction of the second National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2024–2034. However, we believe there are several areas where improvements can be made to enhance its clarity, accountability, and overall impact.

The COTA National Alliance welcomes the second National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older Australians. However, to ensure the plan achieves meaningful and sustainable outcomes, we recommend a few changes that focus on clarity, accountability, and resources.

This submission focuses chiefly on the role and processes used by Primary Health Networks (PHNs) in Victoria in the establishment and management of the Care Finder program in Aged Care.

We welcome the opportunity to provide brief input on how General Foundational Supports (GFS) can effectively respond to the needs of older Victorians with a disability – a frequently overlooked demographic in disability policy discussions.

The Victorian Elder Abuse Strategic Alliance is a coalition of key organisations working at the forefront of family violence and elder abuse in Victoria.

We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission to the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) Energy Consumer Reforms Discussion Paper. We would like to commend the ESC for their work and endorse their outlined objectives.

This submission underscores the urgency for a specialised, multi-faceted approach to housing support for older people.

In presenting this document, we set out a select collection of funding initiatives that we believe warrant serious consideration across Victorian Government portfolios for support in the 2025-26 Victorian State Budget. In doing so, we have focussed on five priority areas.

This submission highlights the need for improved data collection on elder abuse perpetrators to better address the unique needs of elder abuse within the broader family violence system in Victoria.