The royal commission into aged care must specifically examine human rights abuses arising from the use of restraints, Queensland's public advocate and public guardian say.
The federal government announced the royal commission earlier this week, and Queensland public guardian Natalie Siegel-Brown says there is a dire need for regulation on the use of all types of restraints in aged care including psychotropic medication.
"The excessive use of restrictive practices in aged care presents one of the greatest potential infringements of human rights my office deals with," Ms Siegel-Brown said in a statement on Thursday.
Public advocate Mary Burgess has previously called on the federal government to address a lack of regulation on the use of restraints in aged care.
Ms Burgess says aged care residents across the country are being subjected to physical and chemical restraint.
"There is potential for these actions to amount to criminal assaults and other civil and criminal wrongs," she said in a statement released on Thursday.
"Essentially the unregulated use of restrictive practices in residential aged care amounts to institutionalised elder abuse."
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