The Australian Banking Association has called on territory, state and federal governments to co-ordinate their efforts to protect financial abuse with the implementation of a suite of reforms.

Elder financial abuse has been on the agenda since 2017, when an Australian Law Reform Commission report on elder abuse said financial abuse is one of its most common forms.

Since then the banking industry has responded by adding provisions to the Banking Code and individual banks have added extra protections. Measures include “two to sign” arrangements, card limits and transaction notifications.

But governments have not taken up the ALRC’s call to take a more co-ordinated approach to the problem.

ABA chief executive Anna Bligh and Age Discrimination Commissioner Kay Patterson yesterday called on the country’s attorneys-general to implement the key recommendations of the ALRC report. They are:•    agree to nationally consistent laws governing enduring powers of attorney;•    establish a national register of power of attorney instruments; and•    designate a body to receive and investigate reports on suspected cases of abuse in each state and territory jurisdiction.

Bligh said: “The complexity created by the lack of harmonisation of laws between jurisdictions remains a significant barrier to real progress. The effect of it is confusion for older people and their attorneys, and it creates a system that contributes to financial abuse.”

According to the ALRC report, elder financial abuse involves misusing funds in a bank or other financial institution. Money may simply be withdrawn from an older person's account or used to pay someone else's bill without the account holder's permission.