Profile
Justine Elliot, Federal Member for Richmond and Minister for Ageing, has lived at Fingal Head on the NSW North Coast for nearly 20 years.
Born July 29, 1967, Mrs Elliot lives there with her husband Craig and their two young children, Alexandra (9) and Joe (8). Both Mr and Mrs Elliot are former police officers. Justine Elliot was a police officer for seven years and Craig Elliot was an officer for 10 years. Craig Elliot now supports Justine as a stay at home dad to their young family.
Prior to becoming a Federal Parliamentarian, Mrs Elliot was a community representative on the Northern Rivers Area Health Service Hospital and Community Health Council and a representative for Fingal Head on the Tweed Coastal Committee.
Mrs Elliot was educated at the Queensland University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and History. Mrs Elliot also holds a Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations from Griffith University.
Mrs Elliot has worked as a Youth Justice Convenor with the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice, drawing on her experience as a police officer.
Mrs Elliot has also been an active member of local community groups, including Community Associations, Neighbourhood Watch Groups and the RSPCA.
She has been the Federal Member for Richmond since 2004, defeating former Howard Minister, Mr Larry Anthony. She was re-elected in November 2007.
On December 3, 2007, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed her Minister for Ageing.
As Minister for Ageing, she is responsible for the ageing portfolio within the Department of Health and Ageing.
The Department of Health and Ageing oversees more than 2870 accredited nursing homes with 167,070 aged care beds across Australia, providing permanent residential care each year to one in every 10 Australians aged 70 or over.
The average age of people entering residential care is 82. For people who reach the age of 65, a third of all men and half of all women will go into permanent residential care at some time in their lives.
In addition, there are more than 116,000 people employed as direct care workers in the aged care sector (nurses, personal carers and allied health workers. (Source: National Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey February 2004)
Since her appointment as the Minister for Ageing, Mrs Elliot has been working hard to deliver the government’s election commitments and meeting the challenges of the 21st century as well as preparing for our nation's ageing population.
Currently, there are 2.7 million Australians aged 65 and over. Within 40 years the number of people aged over 65 will almost triple, from 2.8 million today to around 7.2 million in 2047, or from around 13 per cent of the population today to over 25 per cent.
Australia is experiencing a new demographic phenomenon with citizens now enjoying the fourth longest life expectancy in the world - after the Japanese, Swiss and Icelanders.
There has also been a major shift in the number of people living to be more than 100. Currently, there are 2,860 Australians over the age of 100 and that is expected to increase to 78,000 by 2055.
“An ageing population creates so many opportunities; we can learn so much from the wisdom, knowledge and experience of older Australians,” Mrs Elliot said.
The Australian Government is committed to the long-term viability of Australia’s aged care sector and the protection of the nation’s frail and elderly.
“The Federal Government is building a modern Australia capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century,” Mrs Elliot said.
”Caring for our ageing population is one of the major challenges facing our nation this century - and as a Government - we take that responsibility very seriously.”
Over the next four years, funding for aged and community care will reach record levels of more than $40 billion -- with $28.6 billion of that on residential aged care alone.
”No government in Australian history has spent more on aged care and community care than this one. We are proud of our plans for aged and community care.
”This is about planning for Australia’s future and the challenges of the 21st century.
“We want to ensure that older Australians can live independent lives and age in their own homes, but also have the option to enter aged care homes if they need to,” Mrs Elliot said.
Details: Ministerial Office – (02) 6277-7280
