Page 1586 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 14 May 2019
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be supporting for our seniors. We also need to support better options for those people who, even with the existing or improved footpaths currently available to them, cannot get to our public transport system.
Particularly as people get older, many of them may choose or be forced to give up driving. In a city like Canberra, that can make life very hard. This is why the expanding flexible bus service to the inner north was one of our 2016 election commitments. I am glad that it has been implemented, but we need to see more flexible bus services of some sort—ridesharing or on demand transport for people who really just cannot use our current public transport system because of their own frailty.
I turn to another issue that, again, it was clear from question time the Liberal Party is aware of. I refer to the age deferral of rates. I am very pleased to see the age deferral scheme extended to cover most over 65s. It used to be only for people with expensive properties. I think it is possibly because I drew attention to the unfair distribution of this deferral scheme that it has been expanded and promoted. I think that is good. It is a practical way that we can support our seniors, who are often on fixed incomes and not always in a position to pay increasing rates.
One of the other things that is really important to support our seniors on is how they interact with the government. Not every senior is happy with using computers and the internet. Of course, I appreciate the cost efficiencies and the much greater amount of information that can be supplied to the public by the use of the internet, but the hard fact remains that there are some people who cannot use the internet.
For some of them, it is because they are older and they never learnt at a time when it would have been easy for them. Some of them have issues in terms of it costing money to have an internet connection. Not everybody feels that they have the financial resources to do it. It costs money to have a computer or a smartphone. But while people of all ages may have problems with the internet, seniors are more likely to. It is important that the ACT government pay a bit more attention to—(Time expired.)
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (3.35): I am very pleased to speak on the importance of supporting seniors in our community. Some 12.5 per cent of Canberrans, or around 50,000 people, are aged 65 years and over, and this number will continue to grow. We recognise the increasing number and proportion of older Canberrans as an asset to the city through their work, their volunteering, their caring, and their senior advisory roles. Senior Canberrans have the highest rates of volunteering and caring nationally and they are the most educated in the country. They bring significant resources to the social, community and economic life of our city.
The ACT government recognises our responsibility to ensure that our city services, culture and infrastructure support and value older people. Through our membership since 2011 of the World Health Organisation’s global network of age-friendly cities
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