Page 1158 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2012
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for a fundraiser—perhaps to help them recover the cost of needing to pay back $10,000.
With respect to supporting older Canberrans, it is an important thing to do. All of us here in this place should support older Canberrans. They are, in many ways, the heart and soul of our community. They built this great city that we live in, and I offer all my support to the older Canberrans.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (4.17): I thank Mr Doszpot for bringing this matter of public importance to the Assembly today. This is an issue that I think all of us here in the Assembly would agree is of great importance. In Seniors Week it is timely to remember and discuss how important older people are to the city. A number of members were at the Seniors Week annual Chief Minister’s breakfast on Monday morning and heard from the keynote speaker, Patricia Reeve, a Council on the Ageing life member who has worked on policy for older people. She gave a wonderful and very forthright speech on the issue.
The key issue Ms Reeve pointed out, and it is one which has been spoken about before in the Assembly, is that we typically hear about older people in a negative sense—that is, we always hear the word “burden” used in terms of the impact older people have on the health system, and the growing needs of the ageing population. Ms Reeve spoke about how older people can and do remain healthy and active and about how this should start to be much more of a focus of policies relating to older people. She also talked about the issues associated with older people having limited incomes, including a need for a rise in the pension, a campaign which she is a part of.
The other issue Ms Reeve spoke about in relation to income was about how many older women do not have access to superannuation. She mentioned how not long ago women ceased to receive superannuation when they married, and how now there is an assumption by most in the community that everyone has super to assist them when they retire. The key issue here is that, even for older women who are now or have been earning a wage, it is likely that they have been working fewer years, after having raised a family, and do not have access to superannuation or, at the most, a very small amount. Issues such as being able to afford housing will be significant. It was good to hear Ms Reeve speak about recognition of this issue.
On the issue of being active, encouraging older people to remain active and engaged with the community improves their health outcomes and self-esteem. This is an important part of adopting a more preventative and proactive approach to health and wellbeing. We do of course need to recognise that the population is ageing and that the health system will need to deal with this, including issues such as dementia.
There has been the most recent Productivity Commission report into residential aged-care services, where a more than significant amount of work needs to occur. The key issue in residential aged care—and it is one I have heard from a number of groups and organisations involved in this area—is that older people must be treated with dignity and respect. I believe this fits with the message that comes out of Seniors Week and which should be the focus of the approach taken towards older people. This is one of the reasons the Greens pursued the idea of holding an older persons assembly, and it
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