Assaults in NSW aged care homes reach highest level in a decade
The number of assaults reported at aged care homes in New South Wales have risen to the highest level in a decade. Police are recording more than two a day on average across the state.
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00:00 According to the latest crime statistics, police recorded more than 900 assaults at
00:07 aged care homes in the last financial year.
00:10 That's almost triple the number of assaults recorded a decade earlier.
00:14 It's possible that it reflects an increase in the incidence of violent behaviour occurring
00:18 at aged care premises in New South Wales.
00:20 However, it also could be a willingness of carers, providers or victims themselves to
00:26 be reporting assaults to police.
00:29 The biggest jump was in April 2021, when the government brought in new rules which require
00:35 care providers to report all incidents of a criminal nature to police.
00:39 If the reporting was the same, I'd say there's still probably been an increase.
00:44 Professor Brian Draper from the University of New South Wales says the actual number
00:48 of assaults in facilities has likely risen because people with lower care needs are increasingly
00:53 being managed at home.
00:55 That means that within the residential aged care sector, we've got a greater concentration
01:01 of those who have the highest level of needs.
01:04 Police won't say how often they attend aged care homes, but figures obtained by the ABC
01:09 under Freedom of Information Law show more than 4,500 police incidents were recorded
01:15 at such facilities last financial year.
01:18 That's roughly 12 incidents a day across the state.
01:21 Police say while they don't run training specifically for dealing with dementia patients, they're
01:26 rolling out training focusing on the rights of the elderly.
01:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]