In fact, according to new research, older people in aged care homes find it extremely difficult to have sex – mainly because of old attitudes from younger people.

Whereas once children couldn’t even abide the thought of their parents having sex, now more of us have to accept the fact that our grandparents do it, too.

But in many aged care facilities, it seems, sex between older people is anathema to everyone from the organisations that run the homes to the people who staff them.

A University of New England study has shown that couples in aged care facilities are being given little to no privacy in their intimate and sexual relationships, despite legal protections.

And if you think it’s a case of no sex please, they’re too old, think again.

While plenty of people pour cold water on the thought of senior citizens having sex, others effectively provide barriers to intimate and sexual acts in aged care.

UNE PhD student Alison Rahn has found entrenched cultural patterns in aged care facilities towards couples.

“Couples may be separated or provided with single beds only, unable to push them together,” Ms Rahn said. 

“Staff frequently enter without knocking or ignore ‘do not disturb signs’, and often gossip about residents.”

Ms Rahn has co-authored the paper Conflicting Agendas: The Politics of Sex in Aged Care, and says it is often the staff who prevent couples from intimacy.

“The culture in aged care facilities also exists because most of the staff tend to be young and, of course, the residents are old and it is inconceivable, revolting or impossible to think that couples would want intimacy,” she said.

Attempts at legislative reform have been met with mixed responses.

“The most opposition comes from religious conservatives. About 60 per cent of residential aged care facilities are run by church or charitable institutions in Australia, so they have a lot of say,” Ms Rahn said.

Many Australian residential aged care facilities still segregate sexes, including couples, and many ignore the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex residents.

“The majority of facilities lack formal policies or guidelines stating their position on residents expressing themselves sexually.”

No government policies address the sexual needs of aged care residents and Ms Rahn, along with other experts, said it was unlikely to be addressed unless there were legislated measures in place.

Ms Rahn searched parliamentary documents and newspapers for proposed legislation that may have affected the experience of couples in aged care as part of the study.

“We analysed 200 documents and found that parliamentary debates revealed a cycle of conflicting agendas and partial solutions to systemic problems experienced by couples in care,” she said.

“Debates around residents’ sexual needs have been heated and sensationalist.

“There are examples of religious institutions aggressively lobbying to override residents’ needs. 

In the case of residents’ rights, church groups succeeded in exercising social control of residents, both within their own facilities and more widely across the entire aged care sector.”

The research recommends specific human rights legislation for older Australians, as advocated by The Australian Human Rights Commission.

Aged care legislation has historically been influenced by vocal interest groups and attempts to limit expenditure.

“In recent decades, commercialisation has meant aged care has moved away from ‘home-like’ facilities to larger, medicalised, profit-making institutions, increasing the likelihood of dehumanisation and alienation.”

The study recommends that the wellbeing of older Australians be “the guiding principle in political decision-making on behalf of aged care residents”.