Help stop abuse and neglect
If you or someone you care for is experiencing violence, abuse or neglect, sometimes it can be hard to identify it as abuse.
Abuse is any deliberate or unintentional harmful behaviour in a relationship of trust. It’s any violence or mistreatment that causes harm or distress. It could be:
- emotional
- psychological
- financial
- physical
- social
- sexual
- neglectful.
The abuse and neglect may also relate directly to care needs, disability or medical condition, such as:
- withholding or destroying medications
- withholding or destroying equipment, such as wheelchairs
- withholding or destroying assistive devices, such as glasses or hearing aids
- physically harming a service animal
- depriving a person of necessary physical accommodations, such as living in unsuitable housing without disability access.
Violence, abuse and neglect can happen inside the home, in the community or in institutions such as schools, religious settings or care homes.
You may experience it from your partner, family member or carer. The carer may also be your partner or a family member. If you’re living in an institution, it could be by someone who’s not related to you, such as a health worker.
We offer help if you or someone you know is experiencing family and domestic violence.
If you’re leaving a relationship or living with violence or abuse, there are some things you can do to keep your personal information safe.
If you’re caring for a child with disability, we have information and resources to help you keep your child safe.
There is information about help and safety on the Disability Gateway.
If you or someone you care for need advice, there are Easy English resources and videos about family and domestic violence available in the Disability Support Toolkit on the 1800RESPECT website.
How to report abuse
You can report abuse and neglect of people with disability and get free confidential advice by contacting the National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline on the Job Access website.
You or someone else who has a disability may be living in an aged care home. If you have concerns about the standard of care in the home, you can make a complaint on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner website.
Make your house safe
If you need medical support, including equipment or house modifications, your state or territory government may offer some help. Read about accessing equipment in your state.
You can find information about making home safe on the Carer Gateway website. They have advice on alarms and monitors and additional support for equipment that might help you.
Stay safe online
eSafety
The Be connected eSafety website provides an introduction to internet safety. It has some helpful tips on internet safety including:
- paying safely online
- avoiding scams and tricks
- downloading and saving documents.
The eSafety Commissioner website also has many resources and tips to help you stay safe online. You can do some training to learn the latest information on safety.
Scams
Online scams are very common and can happen to anyone. It’s important you remain alert when you browse online.
Scammers often pretend to be from trusted organisations, including from us. They may say they’re from myGov, Services Australia, Centrelink or Medicare. We take scams and identity theft seriously. We’ll never ask you for money, to release your information or fix your account.
Find out how to protect yourself and what to do if you’re a victim of a scam or identity theft.