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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3163 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

the problems and helping older people reduce the risks around their homes. The program still has six months to run before completion of the 12 months' trial. The success of the program to date would seem to indicate an ongoing need for it to continue with the emergency services involved.

Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, the challenge for me in speaking to you this afternoon has been to select from the wide range of services which this Government funds and maintains for older people in the ACT community. The Government has welcomed the opportunity that this matter of public importance has provided to remind the Assembly of just some of them. I am sure that members will appreciate the range of initiatives that we have taken, which we are in the process of taking, and which we have supported in conjunction with the Commonwealth. The resounding message is that this Government holds older people in our community in the highest esteem. We are committed to maintaining services and funding for this important group of older people who have the capacity to make major contributions to the wellbeing of society at all levels, not only today but every day. I reiterate that the Government sees the older community as being an important part of our community, one that has unique needs and one on which we spend a great deal of time and money attempting to identify and to provide the facilities that are required. It is simply untrue to even suggest that the Government places a low priority on the needs of these people.

MS TUCKER (5.05): Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am delighted to talk on this matter of public importance, "The importance of maintaining services and funding for all older people in the ACT community". There are over 22,000 people over the age of 65 in Canberra today. By 2010 there will be about 38,500, or 11 per cent of the population, and this will double to 22 per cent by 2040. Ageing of the population, and increasing numbers of older people requiring assistance, is accompanied by a shrinking revenue base available through the taxation system, so we do have an issue that we need to be thinking about.

It would be a great tragedy in a way if, as a community, we were not able to address the needs of our older citizens. It is a time when people can become very vulnerable. It is a very bad indication of how civilised a society is, I believe, if it is leaving its older people to manage under difficult circumstances without giving them support. Surely at this time of life people do deserve to be supported. I am not quite sure what the definition of "aged people" is or "older people" is in this matter of public importance. Mr Moore was saying before that he thought there was a definition about that if you are over 55 you are getting aged. I guess that could be possible for some 55-year-olds, but I have a sense that we are talking here about people older than that. The majority of people over 75, I understand, do rely on age pensions for income security, so there is a real issue about how we maintain that income security, particularly with the increasing prevalence of the user pays principle in the provision of aged care services. What we are seeing more and more is that you do have to pay for what you need. I think this is quite worrying if the pension is not keeping up with the costs of these things.

Eligibility criteria for welfare services are also becoming more stringent. Many older people who have been able to access services in the past are now excluded and forced to either do without or purchase a privately provided service at a high cost. This can place an enormous financial burden on older people. Also, older members of the community

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