Page 3338 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 October 2006
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The advisory council’s strategic plan highlights the need for older people to have a variety of options for transport and parking appropriate to their physical capabilities and needs. The government endorses this principle. The Canberra social plan outlines the government’s commitment to encouraging active community participation by Canberra’s ageing population, and we note that distance and/or mobility factors can create barriers to participation.
The report on the review of seniors clubs raises the issue of parking at seniors clubs, particularly at the Belconnen seniors club. This issue has been the subject of ongoing detailed discussion, and the government is conscious that adequate parking is important to seniors organisations. Having said that, the government has taken care to ensure that seniors clubs are within easy walking distance of bus stops for those members who are able to travel by bus. A range of options is available for those who are unable to travel by bus, including mobility parking permits for those with mobility disability and the ACT taxi subsidy scheme.
To return to the specific issue of parking at Belconnen, the government is not able to provide free parking vouchers for seniors club members because to single out a small group would be unfair to the many other users of public car parks in that area. The 20 vouchers provided to the senior citizens club in Turner was a commitment made by a former government that we continue to honour.
The final recommendation calls on the government to provide $20,000 for each of the next two years for transport to seniors clubs. The government has provided additional funding of over $300,000 for each of the past two years to expand the community transport program under the home and community care program to include social transport. We will be pleased to consider the proposal to expand this service to those outside the home and community care program in the context of the next budget.
In the context of the International Day of Older Persons, I would like to turn now to some other things that we are doing to promote positive ageing in our community. Examples of the government’s commitment to lead Australia in promoting positive ageing, a key priority of our actively ageing framework and of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing’s strategic plan, include grants since 2003 totalling around $300,000 for a range of activities. They include resources to extend friendly home visits and welfare services, religious activities, local excursions, physical activities and social functions for elderly people in the Lao community of Canberra; to enhance volunteering in the Finnish community to provide companionship and transport to appointments, shopping and visiting and other outings for elderly Finnish residents; for a grandparents support network; and for a weekly creative arts program which encourages Cranleigh students and Kalparin residents to have regular structured interactions.
The actively ageing framework developed by sport and rec ACT aims to increase the participation of older people in physical activity and has been designed with the involvement of key stakeholders and other interested sections of the community. To support the actively ageing framework the government has also published information about local activities that are suited to the needs of our older people.
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