Lifelong Respect

Lifelong Respect

Lifelong Respect

One in six (1 in 6) people in Australia experience elder abuse. Elder abuse is a violation of human rights, it can include physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse, financial and material abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Show your support for older people and get involved in a lifelong respect event in 2024.

Everyone has the right to live with dignity and safety.

Our Lifelong Respect Events in 2024.

New initiatives this year!

Wear Purple Campaign

The Wear Purple Initiative was a new campaign by COTA Tasmania to help raise more awareness and understanding of elder abuse in the lead up to World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), and throughout the whole year.  We asked communities to show their support by hosting a fun activity.

The campaign was very successful with a variety of organisations getting on board by value adding to their existing activities. Many posted their support and activities on their Facebook pages.

We thank the following thirteen (13) organisations that we know publicly supported the campaign, and everyone who attended the events:

  • Warrane Neighbourhood Centre – Purple Community Lunch
  • Warrane Community Garden – Purple Friday Morning Muster at the Garden and Purple Sunday Working Bee.
  • McMullen Lawyers – Purple Morning Tea
  • Roy Fagan Centre – Purple Morning Tea
  • Northern Aged Care Assessment Team – Wear Purple to Training Day
  • Kingborough Council – Lighting up the Kingborough Hub Purple
  • Respect Tyler Village Prospect Vale – Purple Morning High Tea and community awareness session.
  • Public Trustee – Purple Morning Tea
  • Phoenix Community Centre King Island – Dress Your Dog in Purple community walk
  • Palliative Care Tasmanian – Purple Morning Tea
  • Aurora Energy – Facebook post standing behind COTA’s Wear Purple campaign
  • Corumbene Rural Primary Health Program – Staff Wear Purple Day
  • Care2Serve Carers Tasmania – Purple Morning Tea

Images Left to Right:
Participants from the Warrane Mornington Neighbourhood House community lunch, St Marys Hospital Purple Morning Tea, and the Northern Aged Care Assessment Team at their Wear Purple Training Day.

5 venues lit up purple!

A number of venues and landmarks were lit purple in the lead up to, and during the 15 June:

  • Tasman Bridge, Hobart
  • Leven River Bridge Ulverstone – Central Coast Council
  • Kingborough Hub – Kingborough Council
  • Town Hall – Launceston City Council
  • Council offices – Burnie City Council

 

Lifelong Respect Webinar

In the lead up to WEAAD activities we held an awareness Webinar on the 22 May. Fifty-two (52) individuals and groups logged in to listen to our Older Voices for Change Lived Experience Advocates, Advocacy Tasmania, Legal Aid Senior Assist, Relationships Tasmania Elder Relationship Service and the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania.

Catch up on the webinar below.

 

Long Table Lunch for Lifelong Respect

For the first time we held Long Table lunches in Rosebery and St Marys.

In the West, we partnered with the West Coast Council and Rosebery Neighbourhood House who put on a magnificent lunch for 40 people in the community.

Images: Long Table Lunch in Rosebery

St Marys Long Table Lunch

In the East, we partnered with the Break O’Day Council and the St Marys and St Helens Neighbourhood Houses who put on a spectacular lunch for 100 people in the community.

 

Images: Long Table Lunch in St Marys

 

COTA warmly thanks the councils and neighbourhood centres who did such a fantastic job in coordinating and supporting both lunches in their local communities. We also thank the local community volunteers and organisations who generously supported the events. And we thank everyone who came to both lunches and made them such a success.

Purple on Parliament Lawns
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day – Saturday, 15 June

On WEAAD day itself, the 15 June, we partnered with Advocacy Tasmania to raise awareness on Parliament Lawns. The community really got involved in asking questions and taking information including a free purple lifelong respect scarf!

Every year on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, families, students, community members, workers and volunteers unite to raise awareness of elder abuse and the ageism that drives it.

Ageism makes it seem okay to ignore older people, and this can have terrible consequences. If older people are ignored and undervalued, it is more likely others will turn a blind eye to elder abuse.

Older people have the right to live with dignity and safety, just like people of every other age. For more information about elder abuse awareness and prevention, click here. For more information about ageism, click here.

Returned in 2024

The annual Walks Against Elder Abuse – Friday, 14 June.

Three statewide Lifelong Respect walks attracted a large number of people. In total: 240 people attended statewide – 130 in Hobart, 70 in Launceston, and 40 in Burnie.

COTA worked with Burnie, Launceston and Hobart City Council’s, together with the Hope Cafe in Launceston, Mathers House in Hobart and the Burnie Library who provided venues and catering.

The Public Trustee supported the walks by helping with catering at each venue. Of particular note, was the inclusion of young people from the Hope Cafe in Launceston, a Social Enterprise for Teen Challenge Tasmania, who catered for and served food at the Launceston Walk.

Images: Walkers in Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie.

 

Why Purple?

Purple represents compassion, dignity, and respect for older people. Chosen by the United Nations in alignment with the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) the displaying of purple shows a commitment to combating elder abuse and promoting a world where older individuals are treated with kindness and empathy.

We encourage you to wear purple and show your support for Lifelong Respect in our community and look forward to your support in 2025.

Past Walks Against Elder Abuse

The Tasmanian Community has been Walking Against Elder Abuse with COTA Tasmania since a Burnie walk in 2015. In that time, the number of walkers has swelled year on year, and progress has been made:

  • new Tasmanian and national elder abuse prevention strategies were launched
  • a new Statewide television, radio and print elder abuse awareness advertising campaign was funded by the Tasmanian Government
  • the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety presented its scathing report
  • the Tasmanian Public Trustee was reviewed
  • there was an inquiry into the Roy Fagin older persons’ mental health facility
  • COTA Tasmania co-hosted a national conference on elder abuse in Hobart, with more than 450 registrations.

We’ve helped achieve a lot together, but so much more needs to be done, because older Tasmanians are still being discriminated against, isolated and abused.

Walks Against Elder Abuse keep governments focussed on fixing the problem. They attract media attention that increases public awareness far beyond the walks themselves. They maintain the pressure for more effective action at all levels of society. And they spread the message that every one of us can take a step towards a safer world by stamping out ageism now.

2023 walks

Hobart

      

   

Burnie

Launceston

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