Legislation to protect older people from scams

The introduction of legislation that establishes the Scams Prevention Framework aims to protect older Australians from online scams.

This new framework will place new obligations on banks, social media platforms and telecommunications companies to prevent scams, and has been welcomed by COTA Australia.

Chief Executive Patricia Sparrow said defending against the scourge of scams, and putting the onus back on banks, social media platforms and telecommunications companies to protect people, is crucial and long overdue.

“The federal government should be congratulated for introducing this world-leading legislation which we hope will act as a defence against the growing risk of scams,” Sparrow said.

“The number of older Australians, and Australians of all ages, being scammed is too high to ignore any longer. We’ve been calling for action on the issue for a long time and it’s fantastic that we’re now seeing some really positive and concrete steps forward.

“Last year, Australians lost a staggering $2.7 billion to scams. This isn’t just a statistic — it represents countless lives upended, savings evaporated and trust shattered. Unfortunately, many of those people were older Australians who haven’t just lost money, but also their confidence and security.

“Older Australians are the group most at risk of scams, and the only demographic to see an increase in losses to scams. We can’t afford to sit back and allow scammers to target older Australians any longer.”

Sparrow said it is now up to members of parliament to ensure the scheme includes an appropriate and clear compensation mechanism for people who suffer preventable losses due to online fraud and scams.

“For too long the onus has been put on people themselves to detect and avoid the increasingly sophisticated work of scammers.

“You only need to look at the figures to know that the status quo isn’t working. It’s time for all businesses involved in scams to step up their game, and we’re hopeful this legislation will make that happen.

“This is about protecting Australians, including older people, and safeguarding the financial wellbeing and digital confidence of all Australians.

“We need a comprehensive, multi-sector, nationwide response to this problem and this legislation is an important step towards that.”

Image credit: iStock.com/ozgurcankaya