1) Charter of Aged Care Rights | Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission with the text:  Elder Rights Advocacy (ERA) supports your right to quality care. ERA is the Victorian aged care advocacy specialist. There are similar organisations in every state and territory – we come together in a national network: the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN).

Using an aged care advocate helps in the following ways:

1. corrects the imbalance of power between consumers and providers
2. enables older people to access aged care services smoothly
3. increases understanding of the costs and budgets of aged care services
4. ensures older people obtain best outcomes from service providers.

ERA works for the older person and are therefore able to push aged care providers quite strongly to improve the quality of care.

ERA services are free, confidential and independent of government and aged care providers. Our eligibility requirement is simple – the issue needs to relate to Commonwealth subsidised aged care.

ERA services include:

a. Information on aged care services 1800 700 600

b. Advocacy support to older people, their families and representatives in Victoria to:
1. access aged care
2. protect and assert their aged care rights
3. resolve problems with aged care providers
4. self-advocate or access an advocate’s support
5. live free of elder abuse.

c. Education sessions on the above to community organisations and to community groups
d. Community Visitors Scheme