Deb Chapman said her grandmother's health deteriorated rapidly after she was allegedly raped three times in her Victorian nursing home.

And she believes the ordeal probably contributed to her death.

Last year, four women at an unnamed Victorian facility - all dementia patients aged in their 90s - were allegedly sexually abused by a male staff member.

A worker was suspended and has since been charged by police.

Another staff member, who reportedly witnessed the abuse, waited two months before alerting authorities to the incident.

Prime Minister John Howard described the allegations as appalling and tragic, while cautiously backing calls for the mandatory reporting of abuse in aged care facilities.

But Mr Howard said the majority of elderly Australians in nursing homes were well cared for.

"It's unbelievable that anybody could treat such frail, vulnerable people in such a fashion in circumstances where they are in care and entrusted into the hands of others," he said.

"I can't at this stage of course say anything further about the particular issue except to express my horror, my disgust and almost disbelief that anybody could be treated in that fashion.

"In saying that I think it's important that people who have relatives in nursing homes in Australia be reassured that ... 99.9 per cent of them are operated in a caring, sensitive way and people are properly looked after."

The new Minister for the Aged, Santo Santoro, will hold a summit with major stakeholders in the sector to discuss ways to prevent abuse of the elderly in nursing homes.

Senator Santoro, who has been in the job for less than a month, ordered an urgent spot check of the nursing home and promised the government would do everything possible to ensure such abuse doesn't happen again.

He said he would consider mandatory reporting, but added that issue was also one for state governments.

"I'm prepared to consider any suggestion and any policy initiative that will help, in fact prevent, the sort of incidents and the prolonged series of incidents that was outlined on (the ABC's) Lateline last night," he told ABC radio.

"I come into this job with an open mind and a clean sheet and what I want to do is to have a very close look at what the options are"

Lillian Jeter, executive director of the Elder Abuse Prevention Association, said state governments were failing older Australians by refusing to introduce mandatory reporting.

"These are the ones who cannot cry out, these are the same people that actually built this country and fought the wars and we're not protecting them - that's shameful," she said.

She said the federal government's complaints system for nursing homes was not responding fast enough and needed to be given stronger powers to immediately investigate all claims.

Ms Chapman said her grandmother was once a strong woman but she suffered awfully in the last months of her life.

"She degenerated hugely in the last six months and of course now with hindsight we think we should have realised there was something else going on," she told ABC radio.

The Australian Medical Association also supported calls for mandatory reporting but the Aged and Community Services Association said it was not the answer.

A Victorian inquiry last year recommended against a mandatory reporting system for nursing homes.

But the inquiry only looked at elderly abuse in the general community, and not specifically at mandatory reporting in aged care facilities.

By Melissa Polimeni

Article from seven.com.au/news