Culture and financial abuse of older people
Research conducted by Monash University and commissioned by State Trustees (Victoria) has shown that older non-English speaking Australians are not only at risk of being financially abused by their family members but many deny that it will ever happen to them.
It shows that a risk develops when the older person depends on their family for translation, transactions and services relating to the management of their finances.
There are deeply held values and practices about intergenerational money transfers, which vary from cultural group to cultural group.
These values and practices are protective but they also put the older person at some risk. It is protective as some families do help their older parents manage their money. The risk comes when things like what’s yours and mine get mingled and when parents are not able to check the finances for themselves.
The research is drawn from the university’s fourth report from the Protecting Elders Assets Study (PEAS) on financial elder abuse.
Data was drawn from 76 survey respondents including those from Greek, Italian and Vietnamese cultures aged 65 to 100 who were surveyed on their current and planned financial management strategies. Non-English speaking participants were aware of instances of financial elder abuse but they believed it would be unlikely to happen to them.
