Australian Government Directory of Services for Older People 2012-2013
Foreword
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This Australian Government Directory of Services for Older People 2012–13 is your easy guide to many useful services including health, care needs, legal rights, and finance and employment choices.
The Directory has a brief description of each service to make it easier for you to identify and contact the program or service that may be of greatest use. A more detailed table of contents has been added to this edition, and the index at the back has been retained to help you find information quickly.
Some services are especially relevant to certain sectors of the community. Symbols have been used to help you identify these groups.
Australian Government agencies have provided updated information for the 2012–13 edition of the Directory, providing you with the most comprehensive information to date.
Publication of the Directory coincides with exciting developments in aged care in Australia.
The Australian Government is committed to building a better, fairer and more nationally consistent aged care system.
We recognise that older Australians deserve a flexible and seamless system that provides more choice, control and easy access to a full range of services, where they want them and when they need them.
On 20 April 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and I unveiled a 10-year plan to reshape aged care. The $3.7 billion Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package will deliver more choice, easier access and better care for older Australians and their families.
Developing a nationally consistent aged care system will improve services for older people by minimising duplication and streamlining services, as well as reducing pressures on our health and hospitals system.
Aged care reform will be implemented in stages, starting from 1 July 2012 with the establishment of a new Aged Care Reform Implementation Council that will drive further development of aged care reform.
A comprehensive package of reforms will follow—all aimed at delivering the kind of aged care system that every Australian will be proud of, today and in the future.
Information on Living Longer Living Better can be found at the Aged Care Australia website
I hope you and your family find the Directory helpful. A downloadable version of the Directory is available at the: Department of Health and Ageing website
Mark Butler
Minister for Mental Health and Ageing
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