Financial abuse will be a focus of the Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into elder abuse, with the commission raising the prospect of a mandatory reporting regime for financial institutions.The ALRC has released an issues paper setting out the scope of its inquiry and calling for submissions.It will consider existing laws, codes of conduct, standards and related matters that seek to safeguard older Australians from abuse.According to the issues paper, financial abuse of older people often 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 Money may simply be withdrawn from an older person's account or used to pay someone else's bill without the account holder's permission.The commission has asked the industry to provide any evidence of such abuse.The commission said financial institutions could help prevent abuse by raising awareness, by informing customers of steps they can take to protect themselves and by intervening when they detect abuse.The ALRC noted that the Australian Bankers Association has prepared customer fact sheets and has also developed industry guidelines on how its members should protect vulnerable customers.The issues paper has raised the prospect of mandatory staff training about financial abuse.It pointed out that in the United States most states have a reporting regime and asked whether such rules should be established here.Under current laws confidentiality obligations limit the scope for reporting currently.