Page 447 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 13 March 2007
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instance, over 50,000 men and women, or just 13 per cent of Canberra’s population were aged over 55. By 2031, that number will actually double. The biggest growth will occur in the over-70 age group, which is expected to grow to more than 50,000 and will constitute 15 per cent of the population. These are quite dramatic statistics. Within the next 25 years, there will be 50,000 people in the Australian Capital Territory over the age of 50.
It is important that, as a society, we ensure that older people are able to remain in their own homes for as long as possible or for as long as they desire. The need for aged care beds will, of course, continue to grow as our population ages.
I am very proud of the government’s record in relation to the provision of support for the ageing in our community. Over the past three years, the government has released land for an extra 900 aged care beds in Canberra. One hundred and twenty-eight of those are currently under construction, with 548 in the planning stage and to be completed over the next two years.
Over the past few months Southern Cross Care in Garran has delivered 70 beds and 14 independent living units; Centrecare in Aranda has delivered 15 supported housing units; the Tamil Senior Citizens Association has delivered four units in Isaacs; and Calvary has built 48 independent living units. Currently under construction at Calvary in Bruce, and to be completed by July, are 100 beds and a further 30 independent living units. Goodwin in Ainslie is building 103 beds and 148 independent living units, due for completion in September, and as we speak Goodwin has almost completed 19 assisted living units in Farrer.
Approval has been granted for 100 beds and 150 independent living units to be built by the Illawarra Retirement Trust in Belconnen; 74 beds to be built by St Andrew’s in Hughes; 64 beds to be built by Mirrinjani in Weston and 24 independent living units to be built by Ridgecrest in Page. A development application for 110 beds and 150 independent living units in Monash is under consideration and another, for 40 beds in Campbell, is being prepared.
UnitingCare has received approval for 100 beds and 150 units and is negotiating for a site in Gordon. Baptist Community Services has been allocated 120 beds and 180 units for the Nicholls land bank site. The government has agreed to sell the block adjoining Kankinya, in Lyneham, to allow for an expansion of the dementia facility. Community consultation is under way on the possible expansion of the Morshead war veterans’ facility on a piece of land in Kaleen.
This week’s direct grant of land on the site of the former O’Connell Education Centre in Griffith to Baptist Community Services is the latest contribution to this busy pipeline of new beds and another significant initiative to flow from the government’s strategy statement Building our ageing community. The direct grant will allow Baptist Community Services to build a new, 160-bed aged care facility in the inner south, one of the areas of greatest looming demand.
But the direct grant will result in more than just this new facility. The direct grant of the land in Griffith will be significantly leveraged by Baptist Community Services. As part of the deal, they will redevelop the site of Morling Lodge in Red Hill to create a
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