Power of attorney should be federal responsibility: Age Discrimination Commissioner Kay Patterson AO

It comes as $3.5 trillion worth of assets are expected to be inherited by younger generations from the silent generation and baby boomers, and complaints of elder abuse rise.

There's been a 28 per cent increase in calls to the elder abuse phone line 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374) so far this year.

This increase is also being experienced by specialists in various states, with some reporting as much as a 40 per cent rise this year.

Kay gave the speech "Building a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia" at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, June 28, ahead of stepping down from her role in late July, with a replacement yet to be appointed.

She gave numerous scenarios where adult children in particular abused their power of attorney position - or lied about their status - for their own benefit.

A journalist asked her if powers of attorney should be a national issue. Visibly frustrated at the lectern, Kay responded she had been calling for power of attorney rules to be made a federal responsibility since taking her position seven years ago, and while the issue was tabled in 2000 with the then attorney general and had since been discussed in the House of Representatives, nothing has been actioned.

"If you can do something about it, if the press can press for it," she said.

"It should be done.

"It's difficult but it's possible and it's one of the major things that can be done to reduce the levels of elder abuse."

Kay said different rules between different states and territories about powers of attorney make it hard to educate everyone involved about the topic. This included people who needed one, those appointed in the position, and people providing advice about it. It was also harder to investigate abuse cases where multiple jurisdictions were involved.

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Kay said very few seem to know they can revoke their power of attorney; many people often shared their experiences with her when she visited community events and she told them about it.

She said people would come to her and say something like: "My son is taking money out of my account, I'm going to change my power of attorney".

Kay also called for a national online power of attorney register to enable real-time checks and transparency, which the banks have asked for.

"Somebody comes in and says 'I have my mother's power of attorney'; they (the bank) don't know whether it's up to date or not. One of the things they (the banks) say to us is if we had a register, they could say 'sorry, you don't have your mother's power of attorney."

Banks have identified hundreds of thousands of dollars being transferred by attorneys from principals accounts to their own accounts.

"While that movement of funds isn't always conclusive financial abuse, it does raise red flags and at the very least, points to a pressing need to educate attorneys about their responsibilities, including to act in their principal's best interests, not to mix their money with the principal's, and to keep good records," she said.

One of the five steps she mentioned to help pursue a culture that supports older people in all aspects of their life was encourage them to prepare their planning ahead documents.

"Documents such as wills and powers of attorney are important tools for safeguarding a person's preferences as they age, not just when they're old," she said.

But she warned they can also become instruments of abuse.

"It is critical older people understand their rights and their appointed decision maker understand their responsibilities," she said.

"Principals also need to know they have a right to change, revoke and set conditions under enduring documents when they have capacity."

She stressed that it was "vital" people have their enduring power of attorney documents done too.

"If there's nobody there to speak for you, its the public trustee who decides what happens to you, not you," she said in a frank tone.

Crises adult children face in the current economic climate and project onto their older parents, the fact more people are living longer and barriers to earning - and keeping - money to cover that lifespan, were among the pressures being faced.

In the next 30 years, data showed the number of people aged 65 and over will double to 8.9 million and people aged 85 and older will triple to 1.9 million. Centenarian numbers were expected to reach 40,000 by 2041 - up from 2021's 5300. But the number of working aged people is projected to fall.

At the same time, there'll be the biggest transfer of intergenerational wealth in history at the same time: $3.5 trillion of assets are set to change hands in Australia from war babies (Silent Generation) and baby boomers to younger generations.

Together these events will have massive consequences; possible imbalances in workforce and employment opportunities, pressure on sectors including provision of aged care, and increased risk of elder abuse.

"This could be seen as a calamity, or a perfect storm, or the opportunity for our country to lead the way in creating inclusive communities which celebrate diversity, including people of all ages," Kay said.

During question time, she was asked about the 'bank of mum and dad' phenomenon, and talked about family pressure, including getting inheritance early. Where this pressure came from could be from various areas, for example an adult child moving back in during COVID going "mum this place is too big, you need to sell it so I can buy something because our marriage has fallen apart."

Another example given was some adult children who might think they'll be able to pay off their current mortgage once they get money from their parents' house, who will presumably die in 10 years.

"We shouldn't plan for that - we know longevity is increasing. People are fit and well and say 'well this is my home and I want to live in it the way I want to live in it and it's none of your business," Kay said.

Psychological abuse was also prevalent - in particular family members making threats to coerce seniors into making decisions.

"(People might say) 'if you don't do this you wont see the grandkids, if you don't do this we wont come and visit you'. That's incredibly powerful," she said.

Acceptance of older workers seems to not be embraced. A report by the commissioner's office with the Australian Human Resources Institute found despite the 2023 labour market being tight, 18 per cent of employers have an age cap to which they won't recruit. It's a drop on Patterson's predecessor's first report on the topic about 10 years ago, which had this rating at 52 per cent. While it's an improvement, Patterson said: "It's not good enough".

"Many employers found no difference between older and younger workers in terms of job performance, concentration, ability to adapt to change, energy levels and creativity."

The report found advantages of older workers included attendance, reliability, awareness, commitment, loyalty and being able to cope with stress.

Advantages of younger workers were their physical capability, ambition, and proficiency in using technology.

"It seems to me that most workplaces would need a combination of these (values)," Kay said.

In 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission received 271 complaints about age discrimination - about six per cent of all complaints received. Most were about employment and came from people aged over 55.

Ageism can happen at the recruitment stage, access to flexible working, training, promotion, and managing retirement.

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