On a cold and wet Wednesday morning students, parents, councillors, police and the elderly came together in Civic Square for the Tasmanian Council of the Ageing's annual Walk Against Elder Abuse - calling out the ageism that drives elder abuse.

Mistreatment of the elderly comes in many forms, including, physical and emotional harm, neglect, exploitation and fraud, with one-in-six older Australians abused every year by a person they trust, however, COTA say only half will seek help.

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COTA Tasmania board member Carl Cooper was one of those taking part in the Launceston event and said abuse was common within family settings.

"Generally, a lot of the issues with elder abuse are related to close family members and often elderly siblings which cause distress for the person because they don't get their interests looked after - necessarily - by the family," he said.

Mr Cooper said people who experienced mistreatment from a family member often turned to the community for support, which is what the walk was about.

"This is a walk to identify the issues of elder abuse and we've got a lot of community people who come and walk with us"

"They're looking for support in the community and so we're asking people to recognise there is a problem, sometimes in the family dynamic, and recognizing that it's important to value these people as people."

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Launceston's walk was one of three to take part in the state with similar events taking place in Burnie in the North-West and Hobart in the South.

With Tasmania's old and ageing population, Wednesday's walk was focused on the issues of abuse for people over 65, but that doesn't mean ageism only impacts the old.

COTA age care systems manager Glenda Daly arranged the awareness walk and said other social issues - such as exclusionary behaviours - were also a factor for those perceived to be "old".

"A lot of people over the age of 45, which some might consider to be quite young, find it quite difficult to find a job and keep a job," she said.

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Ms Daly said although the day's events were focused on elder abuse, ageism as a form of inequality was something people of all ages needed to understand.

"Ageism is probably a major reason behind elder abuse, and it's not just in our community, but in many communities, we need to learn to respect people older than us, and younger than us - it works both ways."

Representing the younger cohort were several students from Riverside High School, who also took part in last year's walk.

The students brought homemade signs that read "stand up against elder abuse! Respect, value and care for our older citizens", and "our nans, pops grandmas and granddads must always be respected".

Mr Cooper said elder abuse was the "untold story of inequality", something he hoped the days' walk would help shine a light on.

"As a community, we need to look after our older citizens and look after them in their later years," he said.

"Most of them have had valuable lives but as they get older it is a little bit more difficult to look after them in the community, so we need to work as a team to look after them better."

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COTA Tasmania chief executive Sue Leitch echoed Mr Cooper's comments saying ageism needed to be "stamped out".

"See older people - really see them," she said. "See their faces and all the ways they contribute to society. Then call out ageism wherever you find it, because stamping out ageism is the first step to ending elder abuse."

People experiencing elder abuse or are concerned about someone they know can ring the Tasmanian Elder Abuse Helpline on 1800 441 169.

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