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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Tuesday, 3 August 2004) . . Page.. 3354 ..

Canberra’s population aged 65 and over is expected to treble over the next 50 years—from around 8 per cent to around 24 per cent by 2050—so we must begin planning to ensure that necessary services and accommodation are available when they are needed.

We must also be aware that we are not dealing adequately with our current population. We are planning for 2040 but we should also be planning to resolve our current backlog of issues. Older people are active volunteers who contribute considerably to the community through unpaid work. They are carers and grandparents who assist and protect the most vulnerable in our community. The ACT Democrats believe that governments must recognise the value of and respect for older people in our community. The ageing of our population is a great opportunity for society and should not be seen as a threat.

The elderly people to whom I have spoken want to remain in their homes and in their communities. They are afraid of being sent away to die. They need and deserve support but, ideally, it should come in a format that enables them to remain in the community. Because of that a number of elderly people make regular trips to Sydney to get specialist treatment that is often unavailable or difficult to get in Canberra. More often than not they choose to make those trips by train, so we need to focus on our transport situation and on what is happening at the moment with the Canberra to Sydney rail link.

Last year I spoke about the need for more recognition to be given to the skills and abilities of older people in the work force. Those who are in need of aged care can still play a role in our employment sector. Older people often have the experience and skills that businesses need but employers do not offer them suitable jobs. Many older people have carers’ responsibilities that prevent them from participating in full-time work, or they are simply looking for better work or life balances that part-time work could provide. Business, government and the community sector all serve the whole community. To be successful, all organisations need to understand the preferences of older people as well as younger people. That is a good reason for workplaces to reflect the diversity of the wider community and for government to assist organisations to do that.

It was interesting to hear the Chief Minister talking today about self-funded retirees and the extension of concession schemes to them. Back in June 2002 we originally debated a motion that was passed by this Assembly calling on the government to move away from its position of not accepting the federal government’s reform and to ask the then Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services to establish how we could help pensioners and low-income self-funded retirees in the ACT.

Only now, in August 2004, are we starting to establish where that debate has gone and what the government is doing about it. It was good to hear that there is some movement in that area, but it is unfortunate that it has taken the government over two years to get anywhere. A lot of work needs to be done in the provision of aged care. I will be careful not to wander into the purview of the current inquiry of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment into the planning of aged care.

I refer to the services provided in aged care facilities and to the general lack of services provided for couples, in particular, same sex couples. This government has repeatedly said that it is committed to stamping out discrimination. That commitment must be

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