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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Tuesday, 9 March 2004) . . Page.. 908 ..

community aged 55 and over is predicted to rise from about 10 per cent today to about 30 per cent in the next thirty years.

By contrast the number of young people in the 0 to 15 age group is forecast to decline by about 10,000 during the same period. There are likely to be changes in how people live as well, with projections indicating that within a decade or so almost half of all ACT households will have only one person, many of whom will be aged over 50.

In its intergenerational report, the Commonwealth government has quantified the financial impacts that an ageing population will have upon the nation. In particular, the report suggests that, as the Australian population ages, the cost to meet the needs of an ageing community is estimated at $17 billion per annum.

This estimate fails to take into account the fact that the vast majority of older people are great contributors to the community. Many continue to contribute through the paid work force, others assist as volunteers. Older people also make major contributions to the welfare of their families in terms of both caring roles and financial assistance, and of course their wisdom and life experience contribute to the richness and diversity of our community. I should emphasise that only a small proportion of older people ever require long term residential care.

I speak to the key strategies that the ACT government has developed and is implementing to respond to the dramatic changes that will take place in Canberra’s population landscape. “Building our community: the Canberra social plan” is an expression of the government’s vision that we become a place where all people, including older members of our community, reach their potential, make a contribution and share the benefits of the Canberra community.

I will give a few examples. Under the social plan we will increase concessions and extend them to cover gas and the provision of advice to householders on how to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. We are going to develop an ACT veterans’ memorial, and introduce the Canberra gold Chief Minister’s award for people reaching their 50th anniversary as ACT residents.

There is assistance for older women through the boarding house program. There is a commitment to put in place innovative aged health care and accommodation initiatives that recognise our changing demographic profile.

The government has provided funding for the establishment of a sub-acute facility that will fill a gap in current services in the Territory. The facility will provide specialist rehabilitation and transitional care services that will ease the transition between hospital and home for many Canberrans, particularly our older residents. The facility will also provide acute psychogeriatric services. This will provide a specialist environment for the care of acute patients, and the establishment of management plans to enable ongoing care to be undertaken in the community.

The ACT has also secured Commonwealth agreement to establish up to 50 transitional care places to provide more appropriate care for people waiting in hospital for a nursing home place to become available. We will also continue to fund a residential aged care

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