An advocate for the elderly says there's been a significant increase in the number of older people reporting being abused in Canterbury.
Between June 2014 and July 2015 112 cases were reported.
185 have been reported so far for the 2015 to 2016 period - a 65 percent increase.
Age Concern chief executive Simon Templeton said the increase reflected more awareness and staff on hand to deal with concerns.
Mr Templeton said the agency probably deals with only the tip of the iceberg and it was likely there were more unreported cases.
He said 50 percent of cases were financial abuse and the remainder sexual, physical or psychological.
He said it was common for the the abuser to be related to the victim.