The independent senator told the ABC: “There must be an urgent Senate inquiry into the whole issue of aged care funding instruments and also the whole issue of elder abuse because it seems that there aren’t adequate legal protections in place.”

He also warned the Government’s $1.2 billion in funding cuts will lead to an increase in reports of elder abuse.

Mr Xenophon’s response came after the ABC’s 7:30 program aired hidden camera footage of a carer at an Adelaide home that appeared to show him trying to suffocate an 89-year-old dementia sufferer.

The carer Corey Lyle Lucas, 27, ended up pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, but served just three weeks in jail to the anger of the man’s daughter who set up the camera.