news
Outsmart the
con artists
Hobart man’s $250,000
loss in scam helps spark
national warning.
A
77-year-old Hobart man who lost
$250,000 is one of the victims
of cold-call scams that have
prompted a national alert.
Invitations to take part in scams often
come via email, letter, phone or as a
pop-up while browsing the internet.
Tasmania Police Sergeant Gen Hickman
said that if a deal sounds too good to be
true, it probably is.
“The scammers make money by keeping
the funds you have invested or provided,
or by boosting the price of stock in a
company they already have shares in,”
Hickman said. “They sell their shares, make
a huge profit, and leave you with a loss.”
The Hobart man invested with an
overseas binary options broker.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence
Commission, the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission and police joined
forces to issue a warning on the scams,
which are fleecing Australian investors of
an estimated $50 million each year.
The Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission has issued a similar
warning about online and phone-based
scams targeting older Australians, after an
enquiry identified a $3 million increase in
reported scam losses this year. ■
With AAP.
Over 65s missing
their jabs
Advocates for aged call for
new approach to vaccinating
older people in Australia.
O
How’s that mouth feel?
Dental research will study the state of
oral health and care across Australia.
A
bout 7500 Australians will
undergo dental examinations as
part of a research project that
aims to assess the level of oral diseases in
the Australian adult population.
The $5.8 million National Study of Adult
Oral Health 2016–18 will also explore
effectiveness, sustainability and equity of
dental service delivery across the country.
Participants will be interviewed about
their dental service use, service-mix,
oral health behaviours, socioeconomic
conditions and other determinants of oral
health. They will also be invited to take part
in dental examinations.
6
agedcareinsite.com.au
The research team will also track the
5500 participants from the National Survey
of Adult Oral Health 2004–06.
Chief investigator professor Marco Peres
from the University of Adelaide, director
of the Australian Research Centre for
Population Oral Health, said: “Oral disease
compromises both general health and quality
of life, but the high cost of dental care, unlike
general medical care, is largely borne by the
individual. This makes it almost unattainable
for disadvantaged groups in society.”
Peres said we must establish how best to
deliver dental healthcare that is effective and
equitable for the whole adult population. ■
lder Australians aren’t getting
vaccinated enough and it’s
putting them at undue risk.
The non-government International
Federation on Ageing (IFA) made this
statement during the 13th Global
Conference on ageing recently held in
Brisbane. The group argued that a new
approach to adult vaccination in Australia
is required.
IFA secretary general Dr Jane Barratt said
adult vaccination programs are among the
easiest, safest and most cost-effective ways
of protecting older people from diseases
that diminish the important contributions
they make for their families and society
in general.
“We strongly urge all Australians aged
over 65, and their health providers, to look
at the evidence. Adult vaccinations save
lives,” Barratt said. “Australia, and the world,
has an ageing population. We need to take
action toward a nation that ages healthily.”
Barratt advocated for the government to
play a larger role in promoting and providing
vaccination programs for older Australians.
“Vaccination needs to be seen in the
context of healthy ageing and as a normal
requirement,” she said. ■