ABSTRACT
In 2016 and 2018, two older men died in aged care facilities in New Zealand due to grievous substandard practices. In 2022, the New Zealand Human Rights Review Tribunal found that the men’s rights were breached by their residential facilities. This raises the question: ‘Who do we turn to?’ The cases inspire exploration about the robustness of New Zealand’s legal protections for older people in aged care settings. New Zealand’s current complaints regime and strategies undertaken by the Chief Ombudsman on behalf of older people are analysed. Against the backdrop of New Zealand and Australian inquiries into institutional care, domestic and international safeguards are considered. The goal is to understand and critique the toolbox of protections we can use to promote older people’s safety in residential settings. Also, the analysis aims to have wider traction, in the spirit of Professor Bernadette McSherry’s global advocacy for people with diverse conditions in coercive care settings.
