Page 1154 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2012
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64 age bracket; 6.8 per cent aged 65 to 74; and 6.2 in the 75 years and over group. So just under 30 per cent of all Australians are in that over-50 age group.
Back to the selfless people who are making an enormous difference to the quality of life of those for whom they provide care: in the strictly financial sense, they also save the Canberra taxpayer, the Australian taxpayer, millions of dollars. We heard about many of these people last week at a carers summit and I congratulate Dee McGrath and her team at Carers ACT on the initiative in bringing this to fruition.
This week is ACT Seniors Week. Nationally, it is the largest event of its kind in the southern hemisphere, with over 900 events planned around Australia. I saw on early morning television this morning that there were surfing lessons on at Bondi Beach for those of a certain age, as part of Seniors Week in that city. In Canberra we appear to be a little more restrained, with a Chief Minister’s breakfast, the Grange morning tea, a champagne lunch, an afternoon tea dance, give croquet a go at Queanbeyan, and veterans golf at Belconnen. A little more active are the fitness sessions at Fernwood and Curves gyms.
I note there is also a clogging for seniors demonstration put on by the Silver Sole Cloggers Inc at the seniors expo that Minister Burch opened today. Perhaps Ms Burch can give us a demonstration of her clogging abilities. As an aside, I know that while Ms Burch was opening the seniors expo at the Kingston markets I was playing grandfather at an award assembly at my grandson’s school, so we mature age Assembly members are a versatile and active lot.
Targeted programs such as Seniors Week are useful reminders that as a society we should not be ageist; that everyone can and should have the opportunity to make a difference. I urge all members of the Assembly to support this matter of public importance.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Community Services, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Women and Minister for Gaming and Racing) (4.04): I take the opportunity to talk on the valuable contribution that our older Canberrans provide to our society. They provide a great contribution, and I would like to highlight some of the government’s achievements in promoting positive ageing. While the ACT has a relatively young population compared to most other Australian jurisdictions, we have one of the fastest growing populations of older people in Australia, including one of the fastest growing rates of persons aged 85 years and over.
The ageing population will present a range of challenges and opportunities for government in areas such as affordable housing, transport, health, disability, aged care and mature age employment. Long-term planning is required to address the future needs of our ageing population to create opportunities and to remove barriers to allow a growing number of older Canberrans to participate fully and to age well.
Positive ageing is about optimising opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance the qualities of life as people age. Positive ageing allows people to realise their potential for physical, social and mental wellbeing throughout their life’s
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