The 2021 report contains a range of descriptive statistics and analyses of Helpline data collected during the 2020–21 financial year.

The Helpline received a total of 3,430 calls during the 2020–21 financial year. This included 2,022 abuse notifications and 1,408 enquiry calls (Figure E1). Ninety-eight notifications (4.8%) involved allegations of abuse against aged care services or workers.

Compared with the previous year, an additional 488 (31.8%) abuse notifications were received in 2020–21. As reported in the 2019–20 Year in Review report, the number of calls to the Helpline increased sharply in March 2020 and higher than average call volumes were sustained. The largest monthly total on record (n = 347) was observed in June 2021. The increase in calls from March 2020 likely relates to the social and economic impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Queensland Government campaigns raising awareness of elder abuse were the most frequently recorded referral source in 2020–21. The most common types of services that EAPU staff referred callers to were legal (n = 676), guardianship and administration (n = 438), and health (n = 377).

Most abuse notifications (80.7%) in 2020–21 related to abuse in close or intimate relationships. The other 19.3 per cent of notifications related to abuse in consumer and social relationships. The patterns of abuse differ between cases occurring in close or intimate relationships and those involving abuse in consumer or social relationships (Figure E2). This is probably due to differences in the relationships between victims and perpetrators, along with the drivers of the abuse. Due to these differences, the data are analysed separately to increase the usefulness of the analyses.