Proposed changes to the province’s Adult Protection Act received second reading in the House of Assembly yesterday.

In the first five years since the first Adult Protection Act was proclaimed, 1671 adult protection reports were received, and of those, 1345 were accepted and evaluated.

Most of those reports – 80 percent – involved adults over the age of 60.

The proposed changes will legislate timelines on investigations regarding incidents of abuse or neglect involving seniors or other vulnerable people, require that they be resolved in a safe and timely manner, and that adult protection legislation be reflective of Indigenous and cultural considerations.

The amendments will also ensure that Regional Health Authority staff have the ability to intervene and support the safety and well-being of adults for an interim period with court authority to allow time to work with adults and their loved ones to develop a safety plan.

The minister responsible, John Abbott, spoke to the changes in the House of Assembly yesterday.

“A society can be measured in terms of how it treats its most vulnerable,” Abbott told the House. “In this regard, the Adult Protection Act is a very important piece of legislation.”

The legislation aims to protect vulnerable adults who are at risk of abuse, neglect, or self-neglect and who do not understand or appreciate that risk.

He says the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information was “instrumental” in government’s review of the current Adult Protection Act.