Page 5594 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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society undoubtedly possesses. So I think it is absolutely critical that older people are empowered with a strong voice today in order to ensure that our services and policies of tomorrow are fit for purpose. Today’s Older People’s Assembly should serve as a very public statement that older people’s views and their issues and ideas are important and valued in this, your Parliament.
In 2009 an Older People’s Assembly was established in Scotland. The assembly was organised by the Older People’s Assembly Steering Group to allow older people from across Scotland to debate key issues of concern to them. The steering group comprised a number of representatives from different peak bodies and organisations. The guiding principle of the day was to let older people listen to and participate in discussions. Another important principle of the forum was that older people had the opportunity to convey their concerns to ministers and MPs. I think this point is crucial when considering setting up an assembly here in the ACT and I would hope that all MLAs and ministers would be available at some point of the day to listen and respond to participants.
The Older People’s Assembly in Scotland was divided into two parts: a morning session in the Scottish parliament’s debating chamber and three afternoon break-out groups in the parliament’s committee rooms. The morning session ended with a panel involving several ministers and commissioners who were able to answer questions from the floor. Each of the sessions of the day featured a debate on an issue of key relevance to older people and an expert panel. For instance, points raised in session 2 regarding the future of caring for older people addressed concerns about the care assessment process. Outcomes from session 3, speaking up or being spoken for, included points about the difficulty to get local authorities to acknowledge a problem; families and patients not being properly consulted and involved at a personal level; and how individual older people can make a difference to standards of care homes. These sessions included anecdotes from participants who were able to share their personal stories to the floor. Stories and the points raised in each session were also included in the report.
At the end of these sessions, expert panels discussed key things. For instance, panel 1 explored how to support and improve the health of older people and included examination of a range of issues including how to support unpaid carers, the needs of an ageing population and the health implications of an ageing population. Panel 2 discussed how lifelong learning offers benefits to both society as a whole and older people, as well as exploring the importance of enabling older people to pass on their skills and experience to younger generations. Experts from the panels were able to answer questions for participants.
As I have just mentioned, the key themes explored in the Scottish Older People’s Assembly included health, lifelong learning, age discrimination in employment, and speaking up or being spoken for. A comprehensive report was compiled listing a number of recommendations and key points of the day and I would encourage members to look at the report and the recommendations it produced.
By exploring some possible themes that could be debated in an ACT older people’s assembly, I believe it is important that we understand some of the context and more negative perceptions that older people face. In an article from the State of the family
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