As part of the National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians (Council of Attorneys‑General, 2019), the Attorney-General’s Department commissioned the National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study (NEAPS) to investigate elder abuse. This snapshot provides the key findings of the Survey of Older People (2020), a nationally representative survey of 7,000 people aged 65 and over living in the community (i.e. they did not live in residential aged care settings).

According to the Survey of Older People, 15% of people aged 65 and older living in community dwellings in Australia reported an experience of at least one of five subtypes of elder abuse in the 12 months preceding the survey.