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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Tuesday, 9 March 2004) . . Page.. 911 ..

In September 2002, the ACT government tabled its response to the former committee on health and community care’s report, Elder abuse in the ACT.

The government agreed to implement fully all of the 14 recommendations made in the report and, in the 2003-2004 budget, committed $411,000 to implement and report an information contact telephone number for elder abuse; to develop inter-agency protocols and training; and to conduct a broad based community education campaign.

The government has taken a holistic approach to developing its response to elder abuse and has made significant progress in implementing these 14 recommendations. It is noted that although the Assembly provided its report on elder abuse to the former government, that government did nothing.

We have established a broad based community-government elder abuse prevention implementation taskforce to ensure a consistent whole of government approach is maintained throughout the implementation process. We have allocated $4.5 million to increase the number of respite care services and places available in the ACT, including the pilot program “Flexible family support”.

In keeping with the government’s philosophy that prevention is better than cure, we have developed and released an active ageing framework for the ACT, which aims to provide a coordinated approach to encouraging physical activity for older Canberrans. The incidence of serious medical conditions and physical inactivity rise with age. However, regular physical activity provides health benefits, including better health management, greater social affiliation and increased levels of wellbeing.

The ACT government is also putting rubber on the road in relation to seniors’ activities. ACT Seniors Week is a prime example. Seniors Week is an annual event that has been celebrated for some years and it provides an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that our seniors make to the broader community and to promote positive images of ageing.

As the proportion of the ageing population continues to increase, the importance of Seniors Week and drawing attention to health and healthy ageing strategies, and promoting events to support these goals is absolutely paramount.

While the ACT Council on the Ageing takes the lead role in facilitating Seniors Week, I am pleased to say that last year the ACT government provided $15,000 to support the program. This year we have increased that to $20,000 through the Canberra community foundation. This money is being used to offer diverse and interesting activities to our seniors and to recognise the contribution they make to our community.

In addition, the Ministerial Advisory Council is also making a significant contribution to the older person’s photo exhibition that the Public Trustee’s office will be facilitating during Seniors Week this year.

In our plan for older Canberrans, the government made a commitment to review the seniors card program. The key objective of the seniors card program is to encourage older people to enjoy an active and healthy retirement. The scheme is free to join; it is not asset tested and people are not required to disclose their income. There are at the moment there are approximately 36,000 senior card holders in the ACT or about

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