Page 469 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 13 March 2007
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door-to-door services. As we know, the book service provided by our ACT library takes books to people who are isolated in their homes.
Another significant initiative to address the needs of our ageing population was the establishment of the ACT Office for Ageing early in our first term. The office’s primary role is to promote positive ageing through a number of initiatives, including managing community education and a telephone information and referral service relating to elder abuse; managing the ACT seniors card program and seniors grants program; supporting the Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing; and supporting initiatives managed by other organisations, such as Seniors Week and the Canberra Lifestyle and Retirement Expo.
Work is under way within the ACT Office for Ageing to enhance the seniors information service to include a senior-friendly Internet-based search capacity and a web page devoted to accommodation options for seniors, with links to the various public and private facilities in the ACT. The promotion of positive ageing, the idea that individuals have opportunities and choices to enable them to maximise their independence—(Time expired.)
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (3.50): I thank Ms Porter very much for listing today’s matter of public importance. It is a timely item coming in ACT Seniors Week, and it offers a welcome opportunity to recognise both the needs of our senior citizens and the special role that they play in the ACT community.
It is expected that by 2031 the number of people over 55 years of age in the ACT will have more than doubled from 50,000 Canberra residents of this age just five years ago. Similarly, people over the age of 70 will make up almost 15 per cent of the ACT’s population by 2031.
Nationally, people over 55 make up about a quarter of the population, but before the middle of the century this group is expected to make up well over a third of the population. These figures demonstrate the importance of, firstly, recognising the particular needs of senior citizens and the special role that they play in the ACT community and, secondly and more importantly, actually providing services that meet these needs.
The creation of a seniors card reciprocity scheme in conjunction with other jurisdictions is one such service that the government should embark on and provide. In light of the failure of states and territories to come to an agreement to allow senior citizens to receive the same travel discounts wherever they are in the country, the ACT Liberal Party announced this week that on election to government we will immediately seek to enter into agreements with individual jurisdictions. The benefit of these agreements would be twofold. Firstly, they would make travel interstate easier for ACT seniors. Secondly, it would encourage elderly residents of other jurisdictions to travel to the ACT, which is clearly beneficial for our tourism sector.
From information that the minister has provided, I understand that in the past the ACT has been willing to join a national agreement, but the finalisation of any scheme has been prevented by the opposition of one or two jurisdictions. From recollection, I think that they were New South Wales and Queensland.
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