Recent developments in adult protection in Scotland and England and Wales have raised questions as to the need for legislative reform in Northern Ireland. Although the Northern Ireland framework for adult protection has combined a regional policy and protocol with existing legislation, the Scottish Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 offers a new direction.

In order to inform wider public debate, the Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland has commissioned the following review of adult safeguarding in Northern Ireland and adult protection legislation across the UK, Ireland and selected states of the USA and Australia. This review considers gaps and issues in current legislation and concludes with a series of key messages specifically on adult protection legislation, together with an overview of factors potentially facilitating or acting as a bar to legislative change