Ageing and the Law Edited by Meredith Blake, Robyn Carroll and Eileen Webb

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.

Ageing and the Law is a special issue (Volume 33 No 2) of the journal Law in Context. You can purchase a single copy of this issue through this page, or subscribe to the journal from the journal page.

CONTENTS

Preface
Meredith Blake, Robyn Carroll and Eileen Webb

'I Want to Go Home Now': Restraint Decisions for Dementia Patients in Western Australia
Judy Allen and Tamara Tulich

What Role for the Law in Regulating Older People’s Property and Financial Arrangements with Adult Children? The Case of Family Accommodation Arrangements
Teresa Somes and Eileen Webb

Can Real Property Law Play a Role in Addressing Housing Vulnerability? The Case of Older Women Experiencing Housing Stress and Homelessness
Ben Travia and Eileen Webb

Family Law, Involuntarily Separated Couples and their Property
Robyn Carroll

Releasing Housing Equity in Later Life: Markets, Consumers and the Role of the State
Lorna Fox O’Mahony and Louise Overton

Access to Justice for Older People in Australia
Susannah Sage-Jacobson