A SENATE inquiry has called for a royal commission into the abuse of people with disabilities in care, including aged care, after hearing evidence of what the committee called "cruel, inappropriate and in many cases unlawful treatment".
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The call came days before the release of the 2014-15 report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, which showed reportable assaults in aged care were up 11 per cent to 2625.
Reportable assaults include allegations of unreasonable use of force as well as suspected unlawful sexual contact, but do not include assaults by residents with a cognitive impairment on other residents.
There were 1127 notifications of unexplained absences, or missing residents.
The federal Senate Inquiry found people living in aged care faced the same risks as those living in other forms of care accommodation.
One case brought to the inquiry involved an ACT aged care resident, aged 90, who was sexually assaulted by a carer while making herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen.
"He mocked her and dared her to complain, saying that no-one would believe her and he would be back to give her more," ACT Aged and Carer Advocacy Service chief executive Sonia Di Mezza said.
"She was afraid to go anywhere in the facility and became depressed."
In a Western Australian case, an ambulance driver said she had picked up a woman in her 80s who had a number of disabilities from an aged care facility, where staff said the woman had fallen in the past 24 hours.
Later it was found the fall had occurred much earlier and the woman, who had a fractured femur, had been in considerable pain for an extended period before help was sought.
Another Western Australian woman was concerned about bruising on top of her mother's head after what her aged care home said was a fall.
She investigated and discovered her mother had been hit over the head with her buzzer because she was a person who frequently buzzed for help.
Advocare chief executive Susan Richards said aged care residents were not being treated as individuals.
"If we want to improve aged care, or care that is being given in facilities, for every person who lives there...we need to be stronger about maintaining their rights as individuals, and we need to see them as people who can contribute back," she said.
"Instead of looking at what the United Nations sees as the 18 principles for older people, we see people parked in front of televisions who have never watched a television in their life.
"They are not being treated as individuals, they are being treated as a nuisance."
The inquiry found existing abuse reporting mechanisms did not provide adequate protection, and in some cases could cause abuse.
It recommended action including a national system for reporting and investigating abuse, national consistency in carer training, mandatory pre-screening for workers in the ageing and disability areas and a register of excluded workers and the inclusion of mandatory incident reporting in accreditation criteria.
Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association senior adviser Paul Versteege said the Aged Care Complaints Scheme officially received 3725 complaints last year, and in most cases no compliance action was taken.
"Last year only 3.3 per cent of complaints resulted in compliance action taken against nursing homes," he said.
"This year the government's report does not even offer a statistic.
"Assume that even less compliance action against nursing homes has been taken this year."
He said the government needed to stop providing cover for the aged care industry and take action to improve quality of care and keep residents safe.
Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Patrick Reid told the group's national congress ineffective reporting policies were a problem in reporting abuse across the community.
"The same systems that have failed those being abused are failing survivors of family violence, continue to fail our elderly people," he said.
"A lack of visibility of the problem and ineffective reporting policies and fear of repercussion enable abuse to continue.
"Awareness, intervention and protection starts with our extended families and the broader community."
He said aged care providers, home care staff, doctors and anyone who had contact with someone who was being abused had a responsibility to reach out and help them.
