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Thursday May 21, 2026 
4 October 2023
By James Mullan
North Sydney Council has created a new body called the North Sydney Elder Abuse Prevention Collaborative.. The group will bring together local organisations such as community centres, local seniors services, government agencies and will be co chaired by Jonathan Alderton, Senior Constable of North Shore Police, and a Council representative.
The bodies involved in this collaboration include the Seniors Rights Service, Carers NSW, all North Sydney Council Community Centres, Stanton Library and Community Care Network Program,
Council is endeavouring to support older people in our local area who are at risk of, or are experiencing, abuse, neglect or exploitation in their family, home or community.
In an event held today, North Sydney Council launched the collaborative group with guest speakers, State Minister for Seniors, Jodie Harrison and the Aging and Disability Commission NSW Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald.
Minister Harrison told the audience: “Elder abuse is a growing problem, especially with our ageing population. The North Sydney Elder Abuse Prevention Collaborative is an important initiative to raise community awareness of this abuse. It will play a vital role in safeguarding adults at risk of abuse through a collective effort. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time and resources to be involved.” She added “Community solutions are the best solutions.”
The council predicts by 2036 that 17% of the population in North Sydney will be aged 65 and over, meaning occurrences of elder abuse could rise.
North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker was also in attendance and said: “Between 2020 and 2022, we know of 47 reports of abuse from older people or adults with disability in North Sydney. These of course are just those that were reported. This is 47 too many. Of these, the majority were women.”
Mayor Baker detailed that the most common forms of reported abuse in North Sydney are verbal, unmet support needs and financial exploitation. She also highlighted the main focuses of the collaborative (sic) being “early intervention strategies, strong referral pathways, best practice reporting, policy and process, connection between service providers and greater awareness of elder abuse.”
Aging and Disability Commission NSW Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald also addressed the meeting saying the key purpose of the collaboration is to “bring voice and presence to older people in our community.” He believes these types of groups are crucial for addressing abuse issues as they incorporate local government and community in decision making, as opposed to leaving solutions to a bureaucracy.
Fitzgerald believes older people interact with the world most predominantly on a local level, meaning collaboration from these communities are ideal as opposed to a top down approach.
North Sydney is the first North Shore council to implement a collaboration like this with councils such as Sydney City, Illawarra and Wagga Wagga already having similar groups.