When using Home Care Services, you are inviting others into your home for support with common activities such as domestic duties, personal shopping, or other health related services.
It is crucial that you adopt safe money-handling practices for instances where these services require payment to a third party, and in some instances, the staff attending to your care may be handling money on your behalf.
Financial abuse of seniors is unfortunately on the rise, making it crucial for everyone involved to be vigilant and proactive in safeguarding assets. Moreover, Catholic Healthcare team members play a pivotal role in upholding the highest standards of financial care, adhering to our comprehensive money handling policies.
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What is financial abuse of older people (OPAN)?
Financial abuse of older people is the illegal or improper use of an older person's assets, property, or finances without their consent. For example, when someone unlawfully uses an older person's money or assets for personal gain, it can lead to the older individual being deprived of their rightful access to resources. This can be a repeated or one-off action, inaction and can even involve threats.
Common forms of abuse are not limited to but include:
- Abusing power of attorney
- Pressure, threats, and intimidation to give or loan money, possessions or property
- Scams and fraud
- Abusing informal family agreements
- Improper use of funds
- Theft or using an older person's credit or debit cards without their permission
- Inheritance impatience
- Guarantors gone wrong
- Failure to provide promised care
- Emotional blackmail, for example preventing an older person from accessing their money
Catholic Healthcare is committed to ensure the safety and well-being of our clients and community. Here are some essential tips on safe money handling and forms of financial abuse.
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Safe Money Handling Tips for Elderly Clients:
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Stay Informed: Understand your financial affairs. Regularly review bank statements, bills, and receipts to detect any unusual activity promptly.
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Set Up Alerts: Set up account alerts for unusual transactions or large withdrawals with your bank or financial institutions. Timely notifications can help identify potential issues before they escalate. If you don’t understand how to do this yourself, speak to your authorised financial institution or bank.
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Secure Personal Information: Safeguard your personal information such as Date of Birth, Address, Medicare number, driver's licence details, passport information, bank account details, and passwords. Remember to be vigilant about sharing this information with anyone, even trusted individuals especially over the phone or via an unknown link.
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Create a Trusted Contact: Designate a trusted family member or friend as a contact with your financial institutions or bank can contact, if needed. This person can be notified in case of suspicious activity or to confirm any major financial decisions before they are allowed to proceed.
What are our policies around handling your money?
Our employees are committed to following our stringent policies around money handling, property, and supporting the financial needs of clients to ensure the utmost security for our clients. These policies outline clear guidelines on the proper handling of funds and aims to prevent any potential financial abuse.
Catholic Healthcare has a duty of care to all our clients and recognises and supports our clients’ rights to self-determination, independence, and dignity. Catholic Healthcare will act to ensure that Clients do not suffer harm or loss financially due to any action, or inaction by this organisation and those providing care on behalf of Catholic Healthcare.
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Receipts and Documentation:
When assisting clients with money handling, our employees diligently follow the protocol of obtaining and providing receipts for all transactions. This practice ensures transparency and accountability in financial dealings.
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No Monetary Gifts Acceptance:
To maintain the highest ethical standards, our employees are strictly prohibited from accepting monetary gifts as a token of appreciation. This rule is in place to eliminate any perception of impropriety and to uphold the trust our clients place in us.
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Supporting Financial Needs of Clients Policy:
Clients are supported in managing personal assets and completing financial transactions with the assistance of family and advocates. A copy of the formal record is kept when a client has a formal advocate or guardian managing finances. When client risk is identified in financial decision-making, a referral for a decision-making capacity assessment is made.
By adhering to these safe money handling tips and understanding our employees' commitment to following our money handling and supporting financial needs of clients policies, we aim to create a secure financial environment for our clients. Together, we can build a community that not only values financial well-being but actively works to prevent elder financial abuse.
Read more: Protecting yourself against scams
Resources for more information and support:
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New South Wales Ageing and Disability Abuse Helpline 1800 628 221
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The Older Person’s Legal Service 1800 424 079
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Seniors Rights Services (02) 9281 3600
It's important all older people feel secure physically and financially in their own homes at all times. If you are looking to switch your current provider or waiting for a Home Care Package to be assigned, speak with our friendly team today.