Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Tuesday, 9 March 2004) . . Page.. 913 ..

aged care services but to the range of other services and support that aged people in our community need to continue to participate as active citizens.

I turn first of all to the issue of residential aged care. Responsibility for aged care services lies with the Australian government, and the ACT government has raised with the Australian government the need to increase the number of residential aged care places it provides and to increase the funding available for aged care providers to ensure the viability of aged care services. The ACT government is also working with the Australian government to improve the coordination between ACT government land planning and the Australian government’s allocation of residential aged care places.

Under the 2003 national aged care approvals round, the Commonwealth recently announced 121 new residential aged care places for the ACT and 19 new community aged care packages to allow people to remain in their own homes with support. This brings the total number of provisional aged care places in the ACT to 255. The ACT government continues to work hard to ensure that these places are operational as soon as possible. Of the 255 provisional places, we anticipate that 87 will be operational and 168 will be under construction by the end of this year.

Planning issues are always an important part of this debate. Canberra is an ageing community and it is estimated that by 2030 22 per cent of the population will be 65 years or over, compared with just eight per cent in 2001. In 2001 the largest proportion of people 65 years and older—24 per cent of all people over 65 years of age—lived in the Belconnen district of Canberra.

The government is fully aware that older Canberrans need a diverse range of accommodation from hostels and nursing homes to independent living units. Independent living units can be provided on residential land, and the government has also made provision for aged persons units through the ACT housing program. The government is committed to planning for the needs of older Canberrans and is working with the Commonwealth government and the community and private sectors to respond to this need. This is being addressed in a number of ways. I will turn to some particular projects.

First of all, the government has already indicated, as members would be aware, its agreement in principle to the sale of land to the Little Company of Mary in Bruce and to Southern Cross Homes in Garran. When these developments are fully operational, they are expected to deliver 165 residential care beds and about 100 independent living units. It is worth making the point that the majority of the approved but not yet operational residential care beds sit in two facilities, both of which have been approved in terms of land grants by the ACT government. The lease documentation has been finalised for these sites and the normal planning processes are being applied.

In relation to the Uniting Church, the Mirinjani site in Weston, the government is very shortly to consider an application for the sale of land which will be used to provide a 32-bed dementia-specific facility as part of the Mirinjani complex in Weston. Of course, there is also section 87 in Belconnen. Block 6 section 87 Belconnen is identified in the Belconnen town centre master plan for aged persons accommodation. A preliminary assessment is being prepared for the intended use of the land. It is proposed that a 100-residential-bed facility and 150 aged persons units will be built on part of this site. The site was identified in this year’s land release program and it will be released for sale later

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .