Page 1861 - Week 09 - Thursday, 19 October 1989
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misnomer, because we are all ageing. Perhaps there are some who are getting younger. I really prefer the term "more experienced" and I think that once we are more experienced we deserve the rewards from society that we have put into society.
It is important to remember, of course, that only a small percentage of people require the sort of intensive care that we spent a lot of our time on, although there are other areas that would relate to anyone who is more experienced. As I have had an involvement with the aged in the past, I had some concern as to the type of care that people were getting in the ACT and it truly was a wonderful surprise to learn of the caring nature of those people who are caring for our elderly.
The committee was greatly assisted, of course, by Dr Ann Scott and Ms Chris Windsor, and that is no understatement at all. Much has been said, and well said, by other members of the committee. I would like to pick out a few points that I think could be highlighted. Robyn Nolan mentioned that many people stay in their own homes. Indeed, they do and this should be encouraged. One would like to see federal policies which do not work against home ownership.
On a humorous note, Robyn also mentioned compulsory retirement. Indeed, women supposedly have a retirement age of 60 and men 65. Looking at how long women live compared with men, I think that perhaps it should be the other way.
The visit to Peppertree Lodge has already been highlighted, and that was a remarkable experience. Dr Richard Fleming has a capable team and that team is different from those at most places we went to because they were not all qualified or professionally trained. Some of the residential assistants were basically untrained, but nevertheless wonderful carers. We saw that they truly worked as a team. It is a wonderful example of what can be done. Burrangiri, the Salvation Army home, was also a wonderful idea. Both these areas are innovations.
One of the areas to which I feel more attention should be given in the future - and no doubt it will be - is the health of all of us as we get more experienced. Professor Peter Sinnett reported that some remarkable advances had been made in health improvement by the restriction of certain things in our diet. I have also made mention at the end of the report of World Health Organisation information. It was quite remarkable that in 1988 the World Health Organisation reported that Medicare is spending $20 billion each year on preventable diseases and $6 billion worth is due to malnutrition. We can certainly do a great deal - not just from the financial point of view, but from the point of view of the health of the people in our society.
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