Ageing and the Law

This edition of Law in Context comprises six articles addressing some pressing issues of law and policy that arise from Australia’s ageing population. One article examines the legality of restraint of persons with dementia in Western Australia against the backdrop of international human rights. Two of the articles reveal the risks to which older persons are exposed in their housing arrangements, specifically where a parent enters into arrangements with adult children, and the national shame that is the homelessness rate of elderly women. Complex family law property issues which can arise when a person, as a result of age-related disability, is involuntarily separated from their partner are tackled in one article while another provides a comparative analysis on the role of the state in facilitating housing equity release schemes which have the potential to improve the financial situation of older persons. A further article looks at how legal issues associated with growing older are indicative of the need for increased access to legal services and the evidence that these needs are not being met.