Since Relationships Australia NSW (RANSW) established our Let’s Talk Elder Mediation and Support Service in 2018, there have been significant changes in New South Wales and nationally in the way we all respond to the abuse of older people. At the service’s five-year point, this study aimed to review the Let’s Talk intervention model in the current policy and service context, capture reflections on five years of learning, and make recommendations for the future of service provision. The findings in this report draw on analysis of policy documents published since 2018, and interviews and focus groups with nine Relationships Australia staff in NSW and the ACT, and interviews with 12 stakeholders working on the abuse of older people in external partner organisations.

Key findings:

1. Older people deserve greater political ambition. National commitments must be brought into line with those on violence against women, investing in action to not only prevent violence, but to end the abuse of older people. 
2. Political and media attention has increased public awareness of the abuse of older people, supporting people to identify abuse and access services. However, ageism in media narratives of generational conflict presents an ongoing risk of enabling abuse. 
3. Australia’s ageing population is creating greater demand for services, and greater complexity of support needs. Intersections of geography and climate risks, disability, identity-based marginalisation, and population-wide economic distress require coordinated service responses. 
4. Older people experiencing abuse and their family members need a range of service options. As demand for services increases, investment is required to ensure existing providers retain and expand their supports, rather than narrowing what they offer to be able to serve more people. 
5. Older people experiencing abuse need collaborative service models that engage their family members outside the legal system. Many older people want to maintain their family relationships and need non-adversarial, non-criminal routes for support. 
6. Collaborative service models such as Let’s Talk are a unique and critical offering within the service system responding to abuse of older people. Stakeholders value its specialist blend of conflict resolution, counselling, and casework for its empowerment of older people, its ability to engage family members productively, and its capacity to facilitate service coordination and education. 
7. Endemic ageism in Australian society remains a contributing factor to abuse, and a barrier to identification and response. Working towards ending the abuse of older people will require a long-term strategy to address social, structural, and institutional ageism. 
8. Investment is needed to continue innovating collaborative models, building on the existing strengths of elder mediation and support services. Innovation requires support for research and evaluation, to develop and apply models in local contexts and understand efficacy.