Australia's government has announced a public inquiry into neglect abuse of the elderly in nursing homes. It comes after a string of scandals involving the industry. Greg Navarro reports from Sydney.

GREG NAVARRO SYDNEY "The Prime Minister cited a spike in elderly abuse cases as one of the reasons for establishing a Royal Commission into the country's $14 billion aged-care sector. That announcement comes almost a year after a state-run nursing home in South Australia was shut down - because of horrific allegations of mistreatment of elderly residents spanning over a decade."

The inquiry's focus will include in-home and residential care at a time when the number of Australians needing those services is set to jump dramatically. The population aged 65 and over is forecasted to double to nearly 9 million people by the year 2055.

The Prime Minister said over the past year, an average of one service provider a month has been shut down by the government because of abuses, non-compliances, and failures of care.

SCOTT MORRISON AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER "When you are confronted with this, you ask a simple question - how widespread is this? How far and wide does it go? Does it touch on the whole sector? Now, until we can have clear answers to those questions. I think Australians will be unsure, and that's why as Prime Minister last week, we discussed this together as a cabinet and we decided it was necessary to move forward with a Royal Commission into the aged-care sector."

A Royal Commission is the country's most powerful national inquiry that has broad reaching powers, including the ability to compel witnesses to testify. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Sydney.