The Future of adult safeguarding in Queensland
In 2017 the Australian Law Reform Commission produced a ground-breaking report entitled Elder Abuse – A National Legal Response in which it recommended that: ‘Adult safeguarding laws should be enacted in each state and territory. These laws should give adult safeguarding agencies the role of safeguarding and supporting “at-risk adults”’. Subsequently a National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians [Elder Abuse] was drafted which commits state and territory governments to ‘review state and territory legislation to identify gaps in safeguarding provisions’.
This lecture will hear about the project undertaken by the Queensland Public Advocate on adult safeguarding gaps and reform imperatives in Queensland. This project, which has involved eight roundtable discussions throughout Queensland as well as various engagements with people with lived experience of disability, will culminate in a two-volume report to the Queensland government on adult safeguarding in Queensland. Volume One – Identifying the Gaps – has now been publicly released, with Volume Two – Reform Recommendations – due for completion later this year.
Lecture details
Date: Tue, 8 November 2022
Time:
- 5.30pm arrival (networking and refreshments)
- 6pm to 7.30pm (presentations, followed by Q&A)
Venue: Gibson Room, Level 10, Z Block, QUT Gardens Point campus
Cost: Free
RSVP: Register online to attend
Guest Speaker
John Chesterman is the Queensland Public Advocate. A lawyer and historian by training, John has expertise in the fields of human rights, guardianship, supported decision making, powers of attorney and elder abuse. Prior to taking up his current position John was Victoria’s Deputy Public Advocate. He has previously undertaken a Churchill Fellowship on the topic of adult safeguarding and was a member of the advisory committee to the Australian Law Reform Commission in its work on elder abuse. Prior to joining the public sector John worked as an academic, including as a lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Sciences, and as a researcher at James Cook University’s School of Indigenous Australian Studies.
His books include Civil Rights: How Indigenous Australians won formal equality (UQP) and, as co-author, The politics of human rights in Australia (CUP).
