Page 5598 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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unit is unable to keep up with demand. This is significant, as 9.5 per cent of older people experience one or more mental or behavioural disorders and 24 per cent take medication for their mental wellbeing.
Also of concern is a lack of access to GPs, particularly as GPs move out of local clinics and into superclinics. It is difficult for a holistic approach to an older person’s health care to be taken when they are not seeing the same GP each time. There is no doubt that one of the things we do hear a lot from senior Canberrans is about access to GPs. There is no doubt that the closure of some of our suburban GP clinics has a disproportionate impact on older Canberrans. They are often less mobile. It is not as easy for them to drive to a major centre in order to access a GP and access these larger clinics. Sometimes the waiting times in these larger clinics can be significant. Also, losing that personal connection particularly impacts on older Canberrans.
I think it is fair to say that, whilst there are some particular issues that affect senior Canberrans more than other Canberrans, there is no doubt that the range of government services that are provided are important to older people, as they are to younger families and to youth. You can look at issues around cost of living, which we discussed, and at issues around health. Perhaps education is not as high on the priority list in terms of service delivery for older Canberrans, although we know that many senior Canberrans do engage in further education. Many want to see it for their kids and their grandkids. So the concerns are often there, even if it is not directly impacting on them.
Public transport and transport options generally are even more important for senior Canberrans, although they are important right across the age ranges. So when we look at these issues, it is important to say that there will be some particular issues that will be more keenly felt by older Canberrans. There are many others that older Canberrans share in common with people from right across the age ranges.
What is really important, though, is that we recognise the contribution of older Canberrans, of our ageing population, and that we recognise both the challenges and the opportunities that exist with an ageing population. We can see that in so many ways. We know that the challenges are often in the areas of health, the challenges can be around housing and the challenges can be in terms of other support.
The opportunities, of course, are in the volunteering field. We often see people in their retirement, moving into their 60s and 70s, particularly those who are in very good health, being able to volunteer, being able often to put in many hours of unpaid work, many hours of volunteer work, sometimes in formal capacities, with charities, sporting organisations and other community groups. Often, and I think consistently, it is in informal capacities or in personal family relationships, where the grandparents are providing support to their children and their grandchildren, where they are providing support to their extended families.
We do recognise the significant contribution. We look forward to this process. We therefore support the motion. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.
What is also really important is that, whatever feedback does come through this process, we have a government that actually listens to it. We should not have a
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