Government data shows only one in 10 elder abuse cases are reported. Photo: 123RF
An advocacy group is calling for mandatory reporting of elder abuse and for it to be recognised as a specific criminal offence.
Government data showed that 75 percent of elder abuse cases involved family members, with only one out of 10 cases reported.
Positive Ageing Trust Hawke's Bay chair Wendy Schollum said she has heard "harrowing" examples of elder abuse, which included an elderly man being physically restrained by his own family.
"His whānau was actually restraining him during the day, as a way of trying to deal with him, so there was nothing wrong with him but he was being restrained in his own home."
There were examples of emotional abuse as well.
"An elderly woman was being constantly ridiculed, told she was useless, she was a drain on the family, and that really wore her down over time."
Schollum said in New Zealand, existing laws that covered general offences like fraud and assault were used to address elder abuse.
"But they don't actually go far enough and cover all forms of abuse," she said.
She pointed to examples in the US of specific criminal offences for elder abuse.
"They [also] have dedicated enforcement units that take care of that, so they have high prosecution rates and much better protections for those victims as a result of those laws."
But Seniors Minister Casey Costello said the US had a very different criminal system.
"We have a range of offences that can provide protection for those who are vulnerable, those who have lacked the capacity to consent, a whole range of protections in place and there's no real evidence in New Zealand that we're not prosecuting because there's a lack of suitable offending.
"I think we're not prosecuting because there's a lack of reporting, a lack of willingness to report."
She wanted to focus on building awareness.
Costello said she was also cautious about introducing mandatory reporting of elder abuse.
"I would be really concerned that you would have older people who would be reluctant to talk about their problems if they thought that their family member, who they have a close relationship with, would get in trouble."
She wanted to see more information about how compulsory reporting would affect reporting rates.
Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.