Response to the Discussion Paper on Shaping the Future of Employment Services
Continuing participation in the paid workforce is an increasing challenge for many Victorians over 50 whom we seek to support and represent.
Policy
Impact report 2025-26: Advocacy for older Victorians
Older Victorians are not a single group with shared experiences, and our work sought to ensure that policies and systems recognise this diversity. This approach underpins the work undertaken by the Policy & Advocacy team, across policy areas outlined in this briefing.
The state of ageing in Victoria: Community Pulse survey 2026 results
The COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria ‘State of Ageing in Victoria’ Pulse survey provides an up-to-date insight into how older Victorians feel about the upsides and the downsides of their lives in 2026.
Identifying and addressing elder abuse: Implementation toolkit
This toolkit has been developed to support practitioners to strengthen their awareness of elder abuse and build their capacity to respond in ways that are effective, respectful, and uphold the dignity, rights, and autonomy of older people.
Part 3: Intersectionality in elder abuse reference guides
The ‘Intersectionality in elder abuse reference guide part 3’ is a resource guide that responds to the insights and advice relating to elder abuse detection, prevention, response, and recovery that is outlined in parts 1 and 2
Submission on the State Disability Plan and Victorian Autism Plan 2027-2031
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.
Submission: Embedded Networks Review
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.
Age-inclusive emergency preparedness guidelines
As Victorian bushfires, heatwaves, storm events, floods and pandemics have shown, older people are still disproportionately affected by emergencies.
Aged care supports in Victoria
As we age, most of us will need some form of support to continue living independently. The good news is we have a well-developed system of funded services to help Victorians remain at home for as long as possible.
Addressing economic security gaps for older women in Victoria
Older women in Victoria are experiencing a systemic crisis of economic insecurity. Despite decades of participation in work and caregiving, many arrive at later life with significantly less wealth and income than men, leaving a disproportionate number of older women facing poverty and housing stress.
Member briefing: The Victorian State Budget 2026-27
This briefing updates members on budget announcements, including what initiatives offer direct benefit to older Victorians, and how this investment aligns with priorities we have previously identified.
Part 2: Intersectionality in elder abuse reference guide
Part 2 of the Intersectionality in Elder Abuse Reference Guide builds on Part 1, which considered the impact of disability, gender, linguistic and cultural diversity, and LGBTQIA+ identities on people’s exposure to ageism, discrimination, and barriers to elder abuse support.
Submission: Review of life support protections in Victoria
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.
Submission: Review of the Energy Retail Code of Practice
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.
Submission: Preventing perpetrators from accessing victims’ super death benefits
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.
Preparing Victoria for an ageing future: COTA Victoria’s 2026 state election platform
Victoria is getting older, and the next Victorian Government must be ready.
Inclusive use of digital and non-digital communications for older people with a disability: A guide for community aged care providers
While this guide relates to older people with all types of disability, it provides targeted advice for some of the most common forms of disability experienced by participants in community aged care.
“Come back when you’re younger”: Discrimination against older workers in Victoria
Imagine being told that your decades of experience are a liability rather than an asset — that is the reality facing hundreds of thousands of older Victorians. At the same time as people are needing and choosing to work longer, ageist attitudes and practices are shutting them out.
Submission: Remake of Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal fees
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.
Submission to the Inquiry into Voting Centre Accessibility
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
Submission to City of Melbourne’s Community Infrastructure Plan
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.
Submission to the Inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence, and suicide
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.
Our impact: How our 2025 advocacy has affected 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.
Older Victorians Shaping Communities: Supporting leadership in later life
Older Victorians play vital roles leading advocacy and action to improve communities. They do this through a diverse range of formal and informal groups and activities, often on a voluntary basis. Encouraging and supporting this leadership is a crucial part of making Victoria a place that respects, engages and benefits from its older citizens.