A 98-year-old woman was raped on several occasions in a Victorian nursing home and other elderly residents were also sexually assaulted by the same male staff member, according to reports. A man had since been charged by police but the case has led to calls for mandatory reporting of abuse against the elderly, ABC TV said. The Lateline program also aired an interview with a whistleblower nursing home carer who claimed dementia patients were humiliated in front of other residents and were often drugged and rendered senseless at another Victorian nursing home. 

A Health Department spokeswoman contacted Lateline to say the claims had been investigated and found to be unsubstantiated. Two women told the program their grandmother, called "Anna", was 95 years of age, with dementia well set in, when she was placed in a nursing home. Several years later, the women noticed a change in her condition during a visit, and found her almost lifeless. 


After that, Anna's health and demeanour deteriorated. "They were told it was just age and dementia but, in December, their worst nightmare was realised," the program said. 
"Anna's family was contacted by police who told them their grandmother had been raped three times by a male carer over what could have been a six-month period. 
"And not only their gran - the man had either digitally raped or indecently assaulted three other women as well in their 90s, in the same nursing home." The police also told them another staff member had witnessed an assault but had not reported it for two months. 
"We want to know why it happened more than once with our gran, we want to know why it happened in a sustained way across a number of other residents," one of Anna's granddaughters said. 

Australian Elder Abuse Prevention Association spokeswoman, Lillian Jeter, said the incidents at the nursing home, as well as whistleblowers' claims of humiliation and mistreatment of dementia patients, highlighted the need for mandatory reporting of aged care residents to rein in around 80,000 abuse cases each year. "We have better laws on the books for the prevention of cruelty to animals," Ms Jeter said. "We have no laws on the books in criminal statutes and protective statutes for the protection of vulnerable older persons here in Australia. "That is shameful."