Page 1852 - Week 09 - Thursday, 19 October 1989
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point of view and from the hospital's point of view. It was totally unacceptable for any member of our elderly community. I must say, from that time onwards, I was prompted to look into the needs of the ageing and I quickly realised how much needed to be done in this area.
To all those staff who provide service to the aged in their homes, in institutions, in our community, I give my thanks; but I think the biggest thankyou must really go to those carers who take on such a mammoth task and devote their lives to caring for the elderly at home. Those people often go without a lot of recognition. The percentage of those aged people who remain in their homes is significant, and I do not believe enough has been done by the Government to recognise the contribution made by these people. We are all aware of the cost involved in providing a nursing home bed. It has been proven to be both economically advantageous as well as socially advantageous for the elderly to remain in their own homes.
To move back to the report, it is, as we have already heard, a report of some 60 recommendations and each recommendation is very important. I will not be able to mention each of them today. However, I do want to mention the first one which appears in the report. Certainly, it is not the most important, but it is very difficult to actually decide which one is the most important. I will talk a little about that later.
The report reads:
The Committee recommends that all forms of discrimination against the ageing in the ACT should be identified by the Government's Social Justice Unit and that the Government should take steps to eliminate them.
Mr Wood has already mentioned this, but why should women be forced to retire compulsorily five years before men? The Government must act on this recommendation. Just think; if I were the same age as Mr Kaine or Dr Kinloch, I would already have been expected to retire. What nonsense!
The first recommendation appearing at the back of the report under the list of recommendations, as Mr Wood has already identified, is, I think, probably the most important. The absolute necessity to plan and construct a convalescent facility came through to us loudly and clearly. I am pleased to say that I understand that some planning is already in place by the Government to see that that facility is established.
The responsibility for institutionalised care is provided by two levels of government, and I think this provision often makes it difficult in planning for accommodation and services. It becomes a very complex area. Not only are there complexities in the division of funding responsibilities between the two governments - the ACT and
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