Page 3703 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 21 November 2006
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move around independently. It involves not only enhancing the quality of life of senior Canberrans but also ensuring that they are able to continue their contribution to our community in terms of their caring, volunteering, mentoring, late career opportunities and further and different roles that they undertake.
I would like to focus this afternoon on mobility in its broadest sense—that is, in terms of ongoing community participation and engagement. The age structure in the ACT is changing. In 2006 there are 47,000 people aged 60 years and over, which represents some 14 per cent of the population. This group is expected to more than double over the next 25 years. People are living longer than those of previous generations and older people are certainly more active, have greater levels of engagement and contribute more to our community.
In the ACT, we are particularly proud that the uptake rates for the seniors card is around 96 per cent of all eligible Canberrans. We are pleased to sponsor the ACT seniors card program because it promotes an active and healthy lifestyle for older people. The seniors card provides cardholders with discounts at approximately 470 businesses in the ACT and is accepted by a number of businesses interstate. By giving something back to older members of the community, the seniors card scheme aims to improve the quality of life for older people by increasing their spending power and enabling seniors to increase their participation in community life. Local businesses offer seniors card holders benefits ranging from discounts on hotel accommodation, cafes and restaurants across the ACT and interstate, dental services, tyres, car repairs, entry to cinemas, museums and a host of other attractions and activities to discounts on computers and computer training.
As is the situation in most jurisdictions, the ACT seniors card is supported by a range of ACT government benefits for ACT cardholders, including special rates for ACTION bus travel during off-peak periods, discounts on ACT dog registration through the shopfronts and a 10 per cent concession on the registration component of privately registered motor vehicles.
Seniors card schemes are the responsibility of individual state and territory governments and each jurisdiction operates its own seniors card. The eligibility criteria and the range of benefits vary between jurisdictions. Most of the benefits offered to seniors are in the form of discounts on goods and services purchased and these discounts are provided at the cost of the business involved. Some businesses will accept seniors cards from all jurisdictions. All jurisdictions also offer a range of concessions on government charges, which may relate to public transport, spectacles, dog registration, land rates and so on.
There is no consistency amongst jurisdictions about the concessions offered, although all offer some form of concession for their own seniors card holders using public transport. The provision of reciprocal transport concessions for interstate cardholders has been a longstanding and contentious issue. A number of states and territories have been unwilling to enter into arrangements about reciprocal concessions on the basis of perceived cost.
Mr Mulcahy: Name them and shame them.
MS GALLAGHER: It is fair to say that some jurisdictions will carry the cost burden more than others, and I think that is probably a legitimate issue that needs to be resolved.
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