The Human Rights of Older Persons

Bridget Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in the Law School at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and a member of the Planning for Healthy Ageing research group at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research. She has published widely on a range of human rights issues, particularly the application of international human rights law to contemporary issues such as climate change and natural disasters, with a focus on the rights of vulnerable groups.

Kelly Purser is a Senior Lecturer in the Law School at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and a co-lead of the Planning for Healthy Ageing research group at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research. Her research focuses on the challenges presented by capacity assessment and the ageing population.

Kirsty Mackie is a nationally recognised elder law practitioner with a strong interest in elder abuse, advocacy, and law reform. She works in the Legal Placement Unit at the University of the Sunshine Coast and is also a Guest Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology on elder abuse. She has appeared as an expert on national television to discuss elder law issues.

This book provides a comprehensive human rights analysis of key areas of law affecting older persons, including legal capacity; elder abuse; accommodation and aged care; healthcare; employment; financial security, retirement, and estate planning; and social and cultural participation. The research identifies individual autonomy and participation in decision-making as fundamental to a human rights-based approach to elder law. The book argues that a paradigm shift must occur away from traditional medical and charity-based understandings of 'old age' to instead acknowledge older persons as active holders of enforceable rights. The book argues that a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons is an essential tool in achieving this, but that even without a dedicated treaty there is much to be gained from a human rights-based approach. Significantly, because the issues arising in 'old age' are often the culmination of experiences occurring throughout the life course, a human rights-based approach to elder law must begin with a commitment to human rights for people of all ages.