Page 3867 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 15 December 1992
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This progress report outlines many challenges for the Government and for the population of the ACT over the coming decades. The demographic projections contained in the tabled first stage report indicate that some population trends appear to be clear, regardless of which demographic scenario is examined. For example, by the year 2020 the proportion of people in Canberra aged 65 years or older will be considerably higher than today, while the proportion of those under 19 years old will decline. The main working age population group - that is the 20- to 64-year-olds - will comprise about the same proportion of the population as today.
Increasing proportions and numbers of older people in our society requires careful thought about housing, home support services, health services and other issues. It also raises new commercial opportunities for the private sector. The relative decline in the younger population has implications for education delivery and health and welfare services. A key challenge will be in providing jobs for the working age population. To maintain population growth at around current levels we need to create almost 5,000 jobs each year. The emphasis I placed on economic development and employment creation in this year's budget will help the Territory in meeting this challenge. This emphasis must be pursued in the future.
The report notes a number of likely developments that will affect the community in the future. Rapid advances in technology are likely to be among the most influential, affecting almost all aspects of our lives, particularly employment, education and health. In education, technological advances may significantly change the classroom of the future. There will be need for a close relationship between senior school years, tertiary education and appropriate work force training so as to respond flexibly to changing demands and labour force skill requirements. In the area of health, advanced technology promises to significantly alter the way we deliver health services. For example, the further development of non-invasive surgery could mean shortened convalescence periods, and greater emphasis on care at home rather than in a hospital. Changes in societal values and attitudes will have impacts in the areas of law and justice, urban form and social justice.
In future, we can expect that the law and justice system in the ACT will be more accessible and affordable than it is today, as well as better understood by the community at large. It is likely that the community will play a greater role in crime prevention and community safety. A key goal for the future is for a sustainable society, and urban development is an important element of this goal. Within the community and government there is growing recognition of the social, economic and environmental costs of continued urban expansion by means of greenfields development. My Government's urban renewal policies, announced earlier this year, will help to avoid these problems. Development of the future Canberra should be aimed at a more efficient, equitable and environmentally sensitive city.
As part of these aims the Government has endorsed the national strategy for ecologically sustainable development and the national greenhouse response strategy. The ACT participated in the development of these initiatives and will vigorously pursue the implementation of both strategies. The environmental efficiency of our housing will become more fundamentally important.
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