Compass Podcast Series

An Enduring Power of Attorney is an important planning tool that ensures your financial decisions will be looked after if you become unable to manage your own affairs.

Karen Williams (ADA Law), Dr Patricia Reyes (Consultant Geriatrician at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney) and John Chesterman (Public Advocate, Queensland) discussed the ins and outs of preparing an Enduring Power of Attorney document that meets your needs.

They covered the following topics:

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Living with your adult child? Co-purchasing property with a friend? Or building an extension or granny flat with family? These common arrangements often involve an older person exchanging their property or assets in return for housing and/or care as they age. Learn more about why you should establish a formal family agreement.

"Older people largely know about the value of making a Will and an Enduring Power of Attorney, but much fewer know about the value of creating a formal Family Agreement. Families often enter into significant financial and care arrangements with each other verbally, with no written documentation, or clear set of rules, and very little planning for worse case scenarios. This can leave older people vulnerable to abuse.” Russell Westacott, Co-Chair Elder Abuse Action Australia (EAAA)

Panellists include:

Professor Eileen Webb – Professor of Law and Ageing in the School of Law. Eileen’s scholarly research focuses on ageing and the law (elder law) and the human rights of older people. Her recent research has focused older people’s rights to housing including security of tenure for older people and how the operation of existing laws may make older people susceptible to financial exploitation and housing vulnerability. 

Dr Rachel Carson – A socio-legal researcher with expertise in family law and qualitative research about family law disputes. Rachel is a Senior Research Fellow and Executive Manager/Team Lead of the Family Law, Family Violence and Elder Abuse Research Team at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. She has twenty years’ experience researching the Australian family law system.

Melanie Joosten – Joosten is a social worker and writer who has worked in the areas of ageing, social policy and elder abuse for the last ten years at Seniors Rights Victoria and the National Ageing Research Institute. She is the author of the book A Long Time Coming: Essays on Old Age.

Moderated by:

Philippa McDonald – Philippa McDonald is a high profile, award winning journalist and communicator who has covered Australian and international news and current affairs.

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Grandparent Alienation occurs when grandparents are denied access to their grandchildren. It can vary from not being invited to a birthday party right through to no access at all. This can occur over a protracted period of time.

A comprehensive conversation about Grandparent Alienation with a panel of experts who work with families in crisis, including elder law expert at Charles Sturt University, Associate Professor Susan Field, Antonios Maglis, Community Engagement and Capacity Building Officer at PRONIA who works with older people from non-English speaking backgrounds, and Gabrielle Passlow from Relationships Australia, who specialises in conflict resolution/mediation and in family dispute resolution and community sector management.

This podcast also comes with an article by Relationships Australia QLD which you can find on the Compass website along with a curated list of Resources and Service Providers. 

More about the moderator:

Philippa McDonald is a high profile, award winning journalist and communicator who has covered Australian and international news and current affairs. Her career has been built on breaking news and analysis on the biggest stories of our time.

Philippa was part of the team who won a Walkley for the ABC’s Bushfire Coverage. She is a contributor to the book “Black Summer” and was also one of those responsible for the YouTube documentary “The Anatomy of a Mega Blaze.”.

Philippa left the ABC in October. Since then she’s been co-producing films to tackle COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Papua New Guinea, she’s been busy MCing, facilitating, hosting webinars, delivering keynotes addresses, media training and strategic communications.

More about the panellists:

Sue Field is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University, a Director of the Australian Centre for Elder Law Pty Ltd and a Distinguished Fellow at the Canadian Centre for Elder Law.

Sue was until recently co-editor of the Elder Law Review, the only refereed Elder Law journal in Australia. In conjunction with Professor Carolyn Sappideen and Karen Williams Sue has co-edited a recently released text on Elder Law and is working on a co-authored text on elder law for the layperson. Sue has taught Elder Law for many years, published widely and presented at many international and national events.

Sue is currently enrolled in a PhD(i) developing an innovative model for the teaching of Elder Law. Sue also learns the cello.

Gabrielle Passlow has degrees in psychology and education, conflict resolution/mediation and post graduate qualifications in family dispute resolution and community sector management. Gabrielle has worked in mediation and family dispute resolution since 2004 and more recently as a practitioner in Elder Mediation with Relationships Australia QLD. Gabrielle is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and a Registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner with the Attorney Generals Department. Gabrielle was the technical writer for the research and development of nationally recognised qualifications for the Family Law workforce as part of the Attorney Generals workforce development reform in 2004 -2008. She continues to provide training, consulting, and mediation services in private practice in remote and regional Qld.

Gabrielle is passionate about the rights of older Australians and how those rights are negatively impacted by grandparent alienation as a form of elder abuse. She has an interest in grandparent’s choice of interventions in grandparent alienation matters, particularly Family Dispute Resolution in the Family Law context and Elder Mediation in a community service context.

What interventions and outcomes do grandparents seek in cases of grandparent alienation?

Antonios Maglis is a Community Engagement and Capacity Building Officer at PRONIA, who is passionate about community development and supporting healthy, connected and inclusive communities. He facilitates the access and social inclusion of older people, and people with a disability from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds into the cultural, social, recreational and civic life in a number of areas across Melbourne.

With strong experience in CALD-based community development programs, health promotion, education, training and similar related environments; Antonios helps communities plan, collaborate and connect with a variety of programs, services and supports.

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Julie McCrossin AM is joined by Joe Ball, Jude Munro AO and Paul van Reyk, with contributions by Aunty Vanessa in this insightful conversation about the issues, concerns and opportunities that directly affect the older LGBTQIA+ community. 

This podcast also comes with an article by Claire Allan which you can find on the Compass website along with a curated list of Resources and Service Providers. 

More about the moderator:

Julie McCrossin AM gets people talking. After over 20 years as a broadcaster with ABC Radio National, ABC TV and Network Ten, she is now a freelance journalist and broadcaster. Julie also facilitates conferences and seminars. Julie has qualifications in the arts, education and law. After treatment for stage four throat cancer in 2013, Julie is now an Ambassador for Head & Neck Cancer Australia (formerly BeyondFive), Targeting Cancer and TROG Cancer Research. Julie hosts the podcast series, The Thing About Cancer and The Thing About Advanced Cancer for Cancer Council NSW. Julie also hosts the new podcast series produced for patients and family members by Head & Neck Cancer Australia. In 2019, Julie was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the community, particularly through LGBTIQ advocacy roles and to the broadcast media.

More about the panellists:

Jude Munro AO was formerly CEO of Brisbane City Council from 2000 to 2010. This included managing a $2.6bn budget, tunnels and bridges, and more than 10,000 employees. Jude is an experienced Non-Executive Director and board chair. As a Co-Founder of Gay Liberation in Melbourne in 1972 as a 21-year-old, she then went on to more activism including publishing the Young, Gay and Proud publication. Jude participated in the 1978 Mardi Gras march.

Paul van Reyk is happy to admit to being 68 years old, a father to six children, a grandad to one child, shares his house and dogs with a straight female friend and has never used Grindr. He has been an LGBTIQ activist since 1980. Paul is also on the Inclusivity Working Group of the Seniors' Rights Centre.

Joe Ball is the ever passionate and committed CEO of Switchboard Victoria. Switchboard Victoria is a leading LGBTIQA+ community organisation based in Melbourne that provides peer-driven support services to LGBTIQA+ people, their families and their communities. Joe believes in grass roots solutions to systemic issues and draws upon LGBTIQA+ history and the wisdom of LGBTIQA+ elders to guide their work. Joe spent their youth and teenage years volunteering as an Australian Surf Lifesaver, these days they incorporate a range of sporting activities into their life for both health and happiness. Joe identifies as trans non-binary and uses the pronouns they/them.

A Noongar Sistergirl of the Kaneang people in Western Australia’s south west, Aunty Vanessa has been a LGBTIQ+ activist for more than 20 years. Aunty Vanessa has served as Chair for the Indigenous Committee and the Gay Men and Sistergirls Steering Committee for AFAO, helped set up the National LGBTI Health Alliance, Elder Representative for TEKWABI GIZ (Mindout’s Indigenous Advisory Committee for the National LGBTI Health Alliance), on the board of Derbarl Yerrigan Aboriginal Medical Service, and working with Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) and Gay and Lesbian Equality (GALE) in the 80s & 90s.

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The sexual abuse of older women is an often misunderstood and under-reported form of elder abuse. Learn how older women are discriminated against when reporting their assault experiences and how this often prevents them from receiving the help they need.

Listen to Dr Catherine Barrett (OPAL Institute) discuss how to understand, prevent and respond to the sexual abuse of older women. Catherine was joined by leading advocates Yumi Lee (Older Women’s Network NSW) and Kerrin Bradfield (Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence). The moderator of the podcast was journalist Caroline Baum.

This podcast also comes with an article by Dr Catherine Barrett which you can find on the Compass website along with a curated list of Resources and Service Providers.

More about the moderator:

Caroline Baum is a highly experienced journalist, broadcaster and moderator.

More about the panellists:

Dr Catherine Barrett is the director of the OPAL Institute. She is an advocate for the sexual rights of older people. She recently launched the #InHerShoes research and awareness raising project documenting the experience of older women who have reported sexual assault.

Yumi Lee is the manager of Older Women's Network NSW, and has both a professional and personal interest in women's rights issues. She was active in the women's peace movement where she worked on nuclear disarmament and the impact of armed conflict on women. Yumi is now facilitating the work of OWN on three key issues: homelessness of older women; economic security for older women; and violence against older women.

Kerrin Bradfield is the Education & Engagement Coordinator at the Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Violence. She is a highly respected and sought-after Clinical Sexologist and Accredited Sexuality Educator. She is the current Queensland President and National Deputy Chair of the Society of Australian Sexologists and a Member of the World Association of Sexual Health’s Sexual Ethics Committee. Kerrin actively works to create meaningful social change around sexuality, gender, and gender-based violence.

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It’s estimated that one in five older Australians will experience some form of financial abuse in their lifetime (ABS). Financial elder abuse is the theft or misuse of an older person’s money, assets or property. Learn how to prevent yourself or someone you know from suffering financial elder abuse.

Listen to The Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO (Age Discrimination Commissioner) discuss how to understand, prevent and respond to the financial abuse of older people. She is joined by Christine Cupitt (Executive Director – Policy of the Australian Banking Association), Brian Herd (Partner in Brisbane law firm CRH Law), Daniel Coase (Senior Policy Officer, Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia) and Moderator, Caroline Baum.

This podcast is from Compass’ featured topics program, which includes a webinar, an article and featured topics page on Compass. The Hon Kay Patterson AO was the guest editor for Compass in August 2020, where she discussed methods to prevent financial abuse of older people. 

More about the moderator:

Caroline Baum, Moderator. Caroline is an accomplished journalist, former broadcaster, high-requested moderator, curator and photographer. Caroline is the author of ONLY, a Singular Memoir about her relationship with her parents, whom she became a carer for in their old age.

More about the participants:

The Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO is the Age Discrimination Commissioner. Kay began her role as the Age Discrimination Commissioner on 29th July 2016. She has demonstrated a strong interest in the issues affecting older people throughout her professional life. In her role, Kay’s focus is on the rights of older workers, the blight of elder abuse and the need to encourage innovative solutions to homelessness and the risk of homelessness amongst older Australians.

Brian Herd is a partner with the Brisbane law firm, CRH Law. He practices in Elder Law or law relating to older people (and their families) and is regarded as one of Australia's leading lawyers in this important area of later life.

Christine Cupitt is the Executive Director – Policy of the Australian Banking Association. Chris works with our member banks to set policy strategy and develop advocacy policy on financial services, consumer protection regulation and corporate governance. With a professional focus on protecting consumer interests, Chris is responsible for developing culture initiatives, contributing to innovation and reform in banking, and promoting robust governance and professional standards.

Daniel Coase is a Senior Policy Officer at the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia. From 2013 he established and led a team within ACT Health set up to improve the organisation’s response to diversity. The initial focus was on consumers and staff from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The team was then expanded to include work on the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, and people living with disabilities.

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Being a Carer can be rewarding, challenging, worthwhile and overwhelming. This webinar provides perspectives on how to prepare and deal with all the challenges and responsibilities that come with being a Carer and caring relationships. Caring relationships can take many forms from intimate partner caring, intergenerational caring, informal caring right through to more formal caring scenarios.

Listen to the Compass “Being a Carer” podcast where our panellists discuss the demands, risks and resilience involved in being a Carer. Moderator Caroline Baum was joined by Jenni Dickson (Executive Manager Community Support Services at Better Place Australia), Sarah Walbank (Senior Quality and Improvement Officer at Carers Queensland), Val Fell (Dementia Advocate for Dementia Australia) and Jonathan Harverson (Senior Case Coordinator at the Ageing and Disability Commission NSW).

This podcast from Compass’ featured topics program for October 2020, included a webinar, an article and featured topics page on Compass.

More about the moderator:

Caroline Baum, Moderator. Caroline is an accomplished journalist, former broadcaster, high-requested moderator, curator and photographer. Caroline is the author of ONLY, a Singular Memoir about her relationship with her parents, whom she became a carer for in their old age.

More about the participants:

Jenni Dickson, Executive Manager Community Support Services of Better Place Australia. Jenni has over 20 years’ experience in the health sector. She has a Bachelor of Nursing and a Graduate Diploma Community Health. Jenni brings to Better Place Australia a strong background in services development and quality improvement. She has a background in Aged and Community Care and has significant experience in improving the client experience.

Sarah Walbank, Senior Quality and Improvement Officer of Carers Queensland Ltd. Sarah has 40 years’ experience in the community care sector in both Australia and England and is passionate about supporting vulnerable people to live satisfying and enriched lives. Sarah has drawn on her own experiences as a primary carer to advocate for an increased recognition of, and respect for carers during her 11 years with Carers Queensland. Committed to improving the cultural safety of support services, Sarah was influential in supporting Carers Queensland to become a Rainbow Tick accredited organisation. Instrumental in fostering new research about carers, Sarah is a co-author of 'Experiences of abuse in Australian family carers and predictors of mental health and well-being'.

Jonathan Harverson is a Senior Case Coordinator at the Ageing and Disability Commission NSW, prior to that Jonathan worked at the NSW Ombudsman and NSW Public Guardian.

Val Fell is a passionate Dementia Advocate for Dementia Australia and a peer educator with COTA and has been facilitating a support group for carers of people with dementia for 7 years in the Illawarra area. She is a retired statistician and former carer for her husband Ian who had Alzheimer’s and passed away in 2013. Val is the City of Wollongong’s ‘Senior Citizen for 2020’ in recognition for her contributions to her community. Val advocates and assists people living with dementia and carers and families, and has extensive experience in navigating through My Aged Care and accessing services in her regional area. She is also currently studying an online Bachelor of Dementia Care degree from the University of Tasmania.

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Listen to the Elder Abuse Service, Legal Aid NSW team discuss how their interdisciplinary approach has enabled them to better understand, prevent and respond to elder abuse. The team consists of Mary Lovelock, Senior Solicitor, Tanya Chapman, Solicitor and Lynn McLennan, Social Worker.

In this Compass podcast, they provide an example of how their interdisciplinary team works together to provide the best solution for the client. An interdisciplinary team is defined as a group of professionals from diverse fields who work in a coordinated fashion towards a common goal for the client.

This podcast also comes with an article by the Elder Abuse Service, Legal Aid NSW, which you can find on the Compass website along with a curated list of Resources and Service Providers.

More about the participants:

Mary Lovelock is the senior solicitor for the Elder Abuse Service. Mary has worked in a number of senior positions in Legal Aid NSW for 13 years including 8 years working as the solicitor in charge of civil law services in south west Sydney. Prior to working in law Mary was a registered nurse. Since working with Legal Aid NSW Mary has always been interested in the intersection between health and law, having been involved in a number of Health Justice Partnerships.

Tanya Chapman is a solicitor in the Elder Abuse Service. She brings to the team four years’ experience specialising in elder law, retirement villages, and wills and estates. Before that, Tanya was the senior content developer for the College of Law Masters programs for several years. Tanya has a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Law with Honours, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and Masters of Law.

Lynn McLennan is a social worker with the Elder Abuse Service at Legal Aid NSW. She comes to the team with over 15 years of experience in social work, the majority of which has been in NSW Health. Within NSW Health, Lynn has worked in both general and mental health, including eight years in a rural hospital in which she learnt ways to provide more creative interventions to clients. Lynn has experience in developing pathways within services to improve a client’s journey, via processes which include collaborative multidisciplinary approaches, best practice interventions and collaborative goal planning.

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