"Sometimes, people say to me 'It does not happen in Dunedin does it?"'
Mrs Bennett was speaking yesterday to an audience at the Octagon Club to mark world elder abuse awareness day.
Focusing on financial elder abuse, Mrs Bennett listed about a dozen examples she had witnessed in Dunedin.
They included:
• An 83-year-old woman who allowed her house to be used as security for a loan for her son.
She lost the house when he did not repay the loan.
• An elderly woman whose daughter took her eftpos card to gamble, and who consequently could not pay her own bills.
• A family who moved their 89-year-old mother into their house, selling hers and using her money, then neglecting her.
• A son, authorised with enduring power of attorney, who would not tell his mother where her money was.
Giving others authority with an enduring power of attorney presented particular issues for the elderly, relating to power and control.
Age Concern had invited several lawyers and financial services workers to yesterday's address to help them become more aware of the issues.
Former New Zealand netball coach Dame Lois Muir told the audience that from her days in coaching she knew the "squeaky wheel" often received attention, while quieter people could be neglected.
Helping others, by listening, or noticing what was happening in their lives, was all that was necessary.
"We only come by this way once in life ... it does not take very much to ensure that people are enjoying life."
Dame Lois said she was pleased to assist Age Concern's campaign to promote awareness of the issue.
