Page 475 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 13 March 2007
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persons have a higher rate of participation in the work force than the national average, particularly among those aged between 60 and 69.
Older people want to learn and keep on learning. We have a very thriving University of the Third Age here. We regularly have people from the University of the Third Age come to our Assembly. It is always a delight to talk to them, answer their questions and see how interested they are in this place and in their community.
Older people have a higher participation level in sport than the national average. For men, it is almost twice as high. I was pleased to see Mr Barr indicate that, despite a large number of government programs being cut in the sport and rec budget, there is at least some emphasis still being given to participation by older people. There is a plethora of people who are in the age bracket to be classed as elderly who contribute a great deal in the sport and recreation area as volunteers and who just keep on playing. Indeed, veteran sport is huge in the ACT.
Apart from normal sport—regular sport, organised sport—exercise, especially walking, is very popular. Two-thirds of our older people enjoy a stroll through Canberra’s beautiful suburban streets and parks and gardens. As I get on, it is something I enjoy more and more—probably preferring it even to wandering down the field playing veterans rugby. I find that it is good to get out there as often as I can with Bluey the wonder dog, wander around north-western Belconnen and just see the plethora of people who walk around there. Many of them are elderly citizens out enjoying a stroll in our beautiful suburban areas.
Apart from participation in sport and recreation, participation of older people in our culture and the arts is very high. In fact, our older people participate at a much higher level than the national average in just about every area of culture and the arts—from museums and galleries to the performing arts, parks and gardens and our libraries.
Our elderly people are fantastic volunteers. According to Volunteering ACT’s Agenda for Volunteering for the Australian Capital Territory Community, 2003-2007, a document compiled in 2002, our Canberrans have made a higher contribution as volunteers than the national average. Members will probably recall the Sydney Olympics; many members went down there to have a look at it. Some 1,400 of the 50,000 volunteers came from Canberra. That is nearly double the national average. When you look at it per head of population, it is very much double the national average.
However, it is not beer and skittles for all of our older people. In the 1999 report, my colleague Mr Smyth remarked that some older people are isolated. They are isolated in terms of income levels, housing, transport, health and leisure. Isolation can also be brought on by family, social and cultural factors. These are factors that, as a community, all of us need to be aware of and understand; as a community, we need to work together to mitigate them.
Ageing is a growing trend in the ACT. By June 2013, the year of our centenary, the government estimates that the population aged 50 or more will be 110,250. Not only will we be blessed by that additional level of skill, education, knowledge and wisdom,
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