Abuse: it's just not on!

Ahead of today's World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Queensland's Seniors Minister Coralee O'Rourke made an impassioned call for greater vigilance to thwart potential abuse.

"We all have a responsibility to ensure our mothers, sisters and aunts, many of whom have enjoyed long married lives before becoming widowed, are protected from any form of abuse," Mrs O'Rourke said in an interview with The Senior.

The statewide Elder Abuse Helpline received 1652 elder abuse notifications in 2016-17, a 7 per cent increase on the previous year.

Almost 60 per cent of victims were aged 80 and over, and women made up 68 per cent of elder abuse victims.

Perpetrators - 95 per cent of whom were family members, usually a son or daughter - commonly inflicted more than one type of abuse.

The three most common types of abuse reported in helpline calls were financial (65 per cent), psychological (59 per cent) and social (17 per cent).

Mrs O'Rourke agreed with anti-abuse advocates that gambling by family or friends was a known risk factor leading to financial elder abuse.

However, she stopped short of embracing the Australian Pensioners and Superannuants League Queensland president Cherith Weis's call to rein in television commercials promoting betting in a bid to stem gambling.

"For cases where financial abuse was recorded (in 2016-17), there were 40 perpetrators reported as having a gambling problem," Mrs O'Rourke said. "That's 3.5 per cent of perpetrators of financial abuse.

"The highest risk factors for perpetrators of financial abuse are a history of requesting or borrowing money (24 per cent), authorised access (22 per cent) and unemployment (8 per cent)."

The Elder Abuse Helpline is just one of several legal and support services to gain extra state funding, totalling $4.6 million, in the past 12 months.

If you, or someone you know, is being abused, contact the elder abuse helpline in your state: