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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (25 November) . . Page.. 4612 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

that is what it is, then that is interesting. In the other documentation that is around, it is definitely talked about as if it is a government plan. There is an advertisement at the moment for a position vacant. The role is that of a senior officer to provide policy advice on the question of older people. That person has to ensure the effective implementation of the government's plan for older Canberrans.

I was a bit concerned when I looked at this strategic plan-these directions-from the ACT Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing. While it is a good document and it has come from a group of people who know a lot about the issues, I was disappointed, once again, because of the lack of real targets and timeframes. It is probably not up to the council to do that. I accept that.

In this document we have a strategic priority and three key focus areas. There is a strategic priority and expected outcomes. I will give you examples of some of those. In the key theme area two, which is transport, accommodation and planning, a key focus area is to "Promote provision of appropriate and affordable housing options for older people in the ACT". The expected outcome is, "More affordable housing options and accommodation models for older people."

Mr Stanhope did say that they have a strong strategic view for the support of older people in our community. That is great, but we want more than a strategic view. We want to know what the government is going to do, and when and how it is going to do it. In the same key theme area we have, "Promote more responsive provision of aged care facilities". The expected outcome is, "Assessment of and improvement to existing facilities". The timeframes for both of those are 2003 to 2005.

We also have, "Promote provision of responsive public and community transport services and policies to increase access and mobility for older people". The expected outcome there is, "Establish the need and demand for increased independence and community access for older people relative to existing and innovative community and public transport options". The timeframe is 2003-05. It really is not something that we can hold government accountable to when the outcomes are that general.

As I said, I then went and had a look for the government's plan for older Canberrans in the hope that we would see time lines and targets, or something more specific there. But, as I have already said, that is not the case. There is a Labor Party document but that does not have time lines and targets.

I had a look at the COTA document dated February 2002 Health and Community Services needs survey of older people in the ACT. That is probably one of the most detailed documents that I have in my file, although there might be more. I am concerned that we do not see this kind of analysis brought in to inform the targets, timelines and direction that the government will take.

We did, as Jon Stanhope mentioned, have a detailed document produced by the ACT Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Health and Community Care, which looked at elder abuse. I had another look at that. I think it is appropriate to talk about that today because this is also the day that we are focusing on the prevention of violence against women. While this document on elder abuse is about men and women I want to bring it into the debate because this is a important day for focusing on violence.

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