United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Regional Survey on Ageing 2011: Australia
I. National policy and MIPAA Implementation
1. Does your country have a national coordinating body/committee/agency on ageing? Yes
Name of the coordinating body - Office for an Ageing Australia
There has been an Office for an Ageing Australia (under various titles) since 1986.The Office:
- promotes the Australian Government’s whole-of-government approach to population ageing and ageing issues;
- contributes to policy development relating to population ageing and ageing issues;
- coordinates whole-of-government international reporting on ageing issues;
- coordinates and supports the work of the Ambassador for Ageing;
- promotes healthy active ageing including through sponsoring national awards designed to engage stakeholders in the challenges and opportunities; associated with population ageing to develop more positive attitudes about older people and their contributions;
- provides funding to support the national secretariat activities of peak community based organisations including representing their members' interests and advocacy on policy issues; and
- provides funding towards ageing research including productive ageing, building research capacity, the transfer of evidence into practice, and raising awareness of research findings relevant to people as they age.
Dr Marion Amies
Office for an Ageing Australia
MDP 650
PO Box 9849
CANBERRA ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA
Ph: 02 6289 4672
marion.amies@health.gov.au
www.health.gov.au Top of page
2. National framework on ageing
2a. Does your country have legislation to promote and protect the rights of older person? Yes
Names and descriptions of legislation
DiscriminationKey legislation is the Age Discrimination Act 2004 which prohibits age discrimination in many areas of public life, including employment and the provision of goods, services and facilities. The Act applies throughout Australia and is intended to promote a change in people's attitudes about the contributions of older persons to society. The Act provides that if a person's age is one of the reasons for the discriminatory action that disadvantages them, then this will constitute discrimination. The Age Discrimination Act 2004 may be accessed at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A01302
Each State and Territory also prohibits discrimination on the basis of age.
Age Discrimination Commissioner
Since 2005 a Commissioner within the Australian Human Rights Commission has handled age discrimination matters. The first dedicated Age Discrimination Commissioner took up the role on 8 August 2011 and will engage with stakeholders to tackle discrimination in workplaces and in the community, promote respect and fairness and tackle the attitudes and stereotypes that can contribute to age discrimination.
Other Australian Anti-Discrimination Laws
Australian laws also prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex and disability. The Australian Human Rights Commission has responsibility for protecting and promoting these human rights by handling discrimination and human rights complaints, overseeing compliance with anti-discrimination laws and promoting human rights through policy and legislative development and education.
Related to this, the Commonwealth Government has commenced a project to consolidate all five existing pieces of Federal anti-discrimination legislation including the Age Discrimination Act 2004 and replace them with a single, streamlined and harmonised piece of legislation. The consolidation project (which is also one element of Australia’s Human Rights Framework) aims to address current inconsistencies between laws and make the system more user-friendly by clarifying relevant rights and obligations, and reviewing the complaints handling process and the role and functions of the Australian Human Rights Commission. The consolidation project is also intended to support efforts to harmonise anti-discrimination laws nationally.
International obligations
Australia is a party to a number of treaties protecting human rights and non-discrimination including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women and a number of International Labour Organization Conventions.
Compatibility of Legislation with Human Rights
The Commonwealth Parliament is currently considering the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Bills, which would establish mechanisms to encourage early consideration of human rights in the development of policy and legislation. The Bills require all legislation and disallowable legislative instruments to be accompanied by a Statement of Compatibility with the human rights contained in the seven core human right treaties Australia has ratified.
A Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has also been established to examine Acts, Bills and legislative instruments for compatibility with human rights and report to Parliament. This Committee would also be able to inquire into any human rights matter referred by the Attorney-General. The Bills define ‘human rights’ as those recognised under the seven core UN treaties.
Access to ageing and aged care services
The Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) allows access to aged care by those who need it, regardless of race, culture, language, gender, economic circumstance or geographic location and protects the personal, civil, legal and consumer rights of those persons. Aged care services funded under the Act must meet quality standards designed to protect the health and well-being of care recipients. The Act is designed to encourage diverse, flexible and responsive aged care services and to promote ageing in place through the linking of care and support services to the places where older people prefer to live. The Act further protects and promotes the rights of care recipients, and gives them a voice through the Aged Care Complaints Scheme and the Aged Care Commissioner, advocacy services, the Community Visitors’ Scheme, the Charter of Residents Rights and Responsibilities, and the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care. The Act may be accessed at: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2011C00481
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Charter of Residents Rights and Responsibilities
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/ageing-publicat-resicharter.htm
Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-charter-rights.htm
For further details on these Charters see Q19.
Access to health care
The National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 protect older Australians’ right to health. They provide for: free public hospital care; affordable medical services subsidised through the Medicare Benefits Scheme; and affordable medicines subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The Acts may be accessed at www.comlaw.gov.au.
For further details see Q9b.
On 22 July 2008, Australian Health Ministers endorsed the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and recommended its use nationwide for all people receiving or seeking health care in all settings in Australia. http://www.health.gov.au/internet/safety/publishing.nsf/content/PriorityProgram-01
Age pension
The Social Security Act 1991 includes provision of payment of income support for people over pension age. The Age Pension is available to all Australians who meet the residence, means and age criteria. Pension age for men is currently 65 years and for women 64.5 years (rising to age 65 by 1 January 2014). The qualifying age for the Age Pension for both men and women will increase from 65 in 2017 to 67 by 2023.
The Social Security Act 1991 may be accessed at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ssa1991186/
Employment
Under the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 it is unlawful to take adverse action against an employee or potential employee, including by choosing not to offer them employment, because of the prospective employee's age. If someone believes that s/he was not offered a position because of her/his age, s/he can make an application to Fair Work Australia to deal with the matter.
All modern awards and agreements contain Individual Flexibility Clauses enabling employers and employees to negotiate and tailor working arrangements which best meet their individual needs. Protections are in place to ensure that such arrangements are not arrived at through coercion or force, and that the employee must be better off as a result. www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Publications/Legislation/FairWorkBill.htm
2b. Does your country have a national policy or plan of action on ageing? Yes
Names and descriptions of policies/programmes
As noted above at the Commonwealth level, addressing ageing issues and the impacts of population ageing is a whole-of-government responsibility encompassing retirement income (pensions and superannuation); age discrimination, healthy ageing, health services and medical care; ageing and aged care; carers; social inclusion; participation, including employment and volunteering; and housing.The scope of the Government’s response reflects the need for both developmental and intergenerational approaches and is framed in terms of the relationship between population, participation and productivity.
A suite of mainstream inter-related policy documents are available. These are referenced in this response.
In addition, under the Government’s Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998 the Government is required to assess the long term sustainability of current Government policies by taking into account the financial implications of demographic change. In response to this the Government has published Intergenerational reports in 2002, 2007 and 2010. Along with providing comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by Australia over the next forty years, the reports also outline a number of measures implemented by the government to combat these challenges.
The Intergenerational Report 2010 http://www.treasury.gov.au/igr/igr2010/
2c. If you answered “yes” to Q 2a and/or Q 2b, have gender concerns been addressed in the legislation, national policy or plan of action? Yes
The Australian Government believes that people are entitled to respect, dignity and the opportunity to participate in society and receive the protection of the law regardless of their gender or sexuality.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 gives effect to Australia's obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and certain aspects of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 156. Its major objectives are to:
- promote equality between men and women;
- eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status or pregnancy, breastfeeding and, with respect to dismissals, family responsibilities; and
- eliminate sexual harassment at work, in educational institutions, in the provision of goods and services, in the provision of accommodation and the delivery of Commonwealth programs.
Access to health care, affordable medicines and long term aged care and associated subsidies is on the basis of need, not gender or capacity to pay (see further Q12a and 12b). Age Pension rates are the same for both eligible women and men (see further Q9).
At the same time, where there are different gender needs, separate policies and plans of action are in place. For example:
- The National Women’s Health Policy: Advancing Women’s Health in Australia (Dec 2010) http://www.health.gov.au/womenshealthpolicy. See Q11.
- Support for Men’s Sheds – See Q11.
Following the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report, Same-Sex: Same Entitlements and an audit of Commonwealth legislation, the Australian Government introduced reforms to remove discrimination to enable same-sex couples and their children to be recognised by Commonwealth law. The reforms aim to ensure that same-sex couples and their families are recognised and have the same entitlements as opposite-sex de facto couples. Details are at http://www.ag.gov.au/Humanrightsandantidiscrimination/Pages/SameSexReforms.aspx.
Currently a resource is being developed to support a sensitivity training pilot primarily to raise awareness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) issues amongst providers of residential aged care in New South Wales. The outcomes of the pilot will inform future work and possible adaptation for a national program that also includes community-based aged care services.
2d. If you answered “no” to Q 2a and Q 2b, please elaborate on any effort towards the preparation and adoption of such a national policy or plan of action and/or legislation. Not applicable
3. Is there a monitoring framework for the implementation of the above-mentioned legislation, national policy or plan of action? Yes
In keeping with the whole-of-Government approach and shared responsibilities, policies and related legislation are reviewed and updated. For example:
Pension Review
In 2009, the Australian Government commissioned a comprehensive review of Australia’s public pension system. The findings of the review were used to shape the most significant reforms to the pension system in its one hundred year history, to make the pension sustainable into the future and respond to the challenges of an ageing population. Top of page
In September 2009 the Government made changes to the pension system through the ‘Secure and Sustainable Pension Reforms’. The pension was increased, its operation simplified, and improved indexation arrangements were made to better reflect changes to pensioners’ costs of living. See further Q9 and Attachment A.
Health and Hospitals Reform
Australia’s ageing population will result in substantial increases in demand for health and aged care. This will create the need for more health services, new investment in health infrastructure, an expanded health workforce, and increased expenditure. Under the recently signed National Health Reform Agreement, the Australian Government and states and territories will share equally in the costs of efficient growth funding in the public hospital system. This will be accompanied by increased transparency measures across the health system through: the establishment of a new National Health Performance Authority which will produce reports on the performance of hospitals and primary health care services; a new national funding pool to ensure transparency in the management of funding for hospitals from all governments; and activity-based funding to ensure all hospitals are paid in the same way on the basis of the services that they deliver.
Long term aged care
In relation to long term aged care, the Government asked the Productivity Commission to develop detailed options for redesigning Australia’s aged care system to ensure it can meet the challenges facing it in coming decades. The Commission’s final report, Caring for Older Australians, was released on 8 August 2011.
The Government will develop its response to the report’s recommendations guided by four overarching principles:
- First, every older Australian has earned the right to be able to access quality care and support that is appropriate to their needs, when they need it.
- Secondly, older Australians deserve greater choice and control over their care arrangements than the system currently provides.
- Thirdly, funding arrangements for aged care need to be sustainable and fair, both for older Australians and for the broader community.
- And finally, older Australians deserve to receive quality care from an appropriately skilled workforce.
The report is available on the Productivity Commission’s website at http://www.pc.gov.au/publications/publications?queries_by_type_query=Publication
Participation
With the ageing of the population and the need to enable older people to continue in the workforce, the Government identified the need to remove legislative disincentives and to introduce measures to actively encourage continuing participation by people as they age. See Q10 for further details of these initiatives.
As part of the work of the Consultative Forum on Mature Age Participation, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations is planning a national survey on the barriers to employment for mature age people, including age discrimination, to determine the prevalence and impact of these barriers on labour market participation. The aim of the research will be to provide the Australian Government and the Forum with an evidence base upon which to base strategies for addressing the barriers to employment for mature age people. The project is due for completion in 2012.
4. Has there been any specific survey or research on ageing or older persons in your country since 2005? Yes
Focus and coverage
With the ageing of Australia’s population there is an increased focus on research on ageing and older people, and on developing ageing research capacity. Research spans all aspects of ageing and older people, and population ageing more broadly.
Major ageing research agencies and research organisations
The Government’s major funding bodies are the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) which both include research on ageing issues. The Councils websites may be accessed at www.nhmrc.gov.au and www.arc.gov.au respectively. From January 2000 to December 2010, the NHMRC provided close to $AUD1billion for ageing and aged related research grants. Information on the grants awarded may be accessed at http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/research-funding-statistics-and-data/funding-datasets/ageing
The NHMRC is currently working with the ageing research sector to develop a research agenda and to renew priorities for ageing research under its Strategic Plan for 2010-2012. See http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/nh132
The NHMRC co-authors with the ARC and Universities Australia the principal ethical guidance and reference document for Australia in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). Compliance with the provisions of the National Statement is a requirement for receipt of NHMRC and ARC grant money. For other areas, the National Statement would be used as a guide as to what represents best ethical practice. The National Statement requires informed consent to be obtained for all research involving human participants. There are extremely limited instances where this requirement can be waived, and this decision can only be made by a Human Research Ethics Committee.
Informed consent must always be obtained where research participants are especially vulnerable. These vulnerable categories include those highly dependent on medical care (chapter 4.4), people in unequal relationships (chapter 4.3) or people with a cognitive impairment (chapter 4.5). In these categories, additional protections apply and there may be additional requirements for the researcher to demonstrate how informed consent has been obtained and maintained throughout the research process.
The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) is available from http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/e72syn.htm
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A large number of research organisations undertake research and policy analysis related to ageing and population ageing. Indicative of the range of these are:
- Australian Association of Gerontology www.aag.asn.au/ageing_resrch.php
- National Ageing Research Institute, University of Melbourne www.mednwh.unimelb.edu.au/
- National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre www.productiveageing.com.au/
- Dementia Collaborative Research Centres www.dementia.unsw.edu.au/
- National Centre for Social and Economic Analysis and Economic Modelling which includes research into retirement intentions, income and wealth, superannuation, mapping disadvantage among older people etc. http://www.canberra.edu.au/centres/natsem/
Launched in 2009, the Australian Institute for Population Ageing Research, incorporates research teams covering health, labour, economic, financial and technology related issues by harnessing expertise from the fields of business, social sciences, engineering, medicine and the built environment. Research spans: economy-wide analysis; financing retirement; retirement risk management; health and aged care; technology innovation in aged care delivery; and lifestyle impacts on the health of the elderly. Details of the Institute's research projects and publications may be accessed at www.aipar.unsw.edu.au.
Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing (DYNOPTA) project
The Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing (DYNOPTA) project is a multidisciplinary program aimed at building on Australia’s investment in longitudinal studies of ageing. DYNOPTA draws together data from nine Australian longitudinal studies containing questions on ageing, with a combined pool of over 50,000 participants. The contributing studies are:
- The Longitudinal Study of Ageing
- Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health: see also http://www.alswh.org.au/
- Australian Diabetes and Obesity Survey
- Blue Mountains Eye Study
- Canberra Longitudinal Study
- Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA): see also http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/
- Melbourne Longitudinal Study Healthy Ageing
- Personality and Total Health Through Life
- Sydney Older Person’s Study
The Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 meets the requirement of section 63-2 of the Act that the Minister present to Parliament a report on the operation of the Act for each financial year. This report describes the operation of the Act during each financial year and includes additional information to aid understanding of aged care programs and policies. The annual Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 is a primary source of statistics on all aspects of the Australian aged care system.
Reports may be accessed at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-reports-acarep-2010.htm
Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry
The Committees associated with both Houses of Parliament may undertake Inquiries including issues relevant to ageing. Older people or their advocates have the right to provide written submissions and/or oral evidence to such Inquiries and hearings are held in each state and territory to facilitate attendance. Recent Inquiries include:
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ report on their Inquiry into Older People and the Law. The Government responded positively to the 48 recommendations. The response may be accessed at
http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Publications_Governmentresponse-OlderPeopleandtheLaw
The Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into cost of living pressures on older Australians was completed in March 2008. The Government responded to the 15 recommendations made by the Inquiry in September 2008. The response may be accessed at http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/seniors/pubs/Documents/decent_quality_of_life/default.htm
Other Committee Inquiries may be accessed through http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees
National Housing Supply Council
As part of the Council of Australian Governments reform agenda, the National Housing Supply Council was established in May 2008. The Council produces an annual State of Supply Report that assesses information on land supply and demand for housing. The Commission has also published Projections of Housing Demand in Australia, 2008-2038: Housing Needs of Older Australians Narrative Report which may be accessed at http://www.nhsc.org.au/research.html
The Community Care Census (2008) covers the Australian Government’s three packaged care programs, Community Aged Care Packages, Extended Aged Care at Home, and Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia, and a survey of the National Respite for Carers Program respite care services. The Census contributes to improving knowledge about the needs of older people who are dealing with the effects of ageing and wish to continue living in the community for as long as possible, and the way service providers operate to meet the needs of service recipients.
The report can be accessed at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-communitycare-census-2008.htm
Age Discrimination
The Australian Human Rights Commission report, Age discrimination – exposing the hidden barrier for mature age workers, looked at how mature age workers can be affected by unlawful age discrimination and the many different ways this can occur across the work-life cycle.
The report may be accessed at http://www.hreoc.gov.au/age/hiddenbarrier/index.html
The Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australia's central statistical authority, responsible for providing statistical services to all Australian governments, and the community more generally. The ABS’s six functions are to:
- operate as Australia's central statistical authority and to provide services for the Australian and state governments;
- collect, compile, analyse, and disseminate statistics;
- co-ordinate the statistical operations of official bodies;
- develop standards for statistics and ensure that they are complied with;
- give advice and assistance on the production and use of statistics; and
- liaise with international organisations on statistical issues.
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Among the publications at this site is the 2009 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers which focuses on people with a disability, older people (60 years and over), and people who provide assistance to older people and people with disabilities.
This site also has links to:
- all ABS data and statistics relevant to ageing;
- other related sources of information including research centres; and
- ABS contact details.
5. Budget allocation
5a. What percentage/proportion of the Government budget is allocated to your Ministry/Agency?
Budget allocations for expenditure on ageing and older people are made to several Ministries. Each year the Government’s Budget Strategy and Outlook publishes the aggregate funding for policies and programs specifically addressing ageing and older people (‘assistance for the aged’). In 2010-11 this totalled $AUD44.3 billion with details provided in the Budget Paper No.1, Statement 6: Expenses and Net Capital Investment, which may be accessed at http://www.budget.gov.au/2011-12/content/bp1/html/bp1_bst6.htm (Table 9 .1).
In addition, people as they age benefit from funding for many other policies and programs, the major ones include health, support for carers and superannuation tax concessions. For example, it is estimated that a further $AUD16.6 billion subsidised health services for older people, and the value of superannuation tax concessions provided to contributions and earnings is estimated to be around $AUD27.6 billion in 2010-11, increasing to over $AUD37 billion in 2013-14 (see further Attachment A).
5b. Of the above amount, what share is allocated to the implementation of policies and programmes on ageing and older persons? See above.
5c. Has this budget allocation increased since 2005? Yes, by how much?
Expenditure on assistance for the aged in 2005-06 was $AUD30 billion rising to $AUD44.3 for 2010-11. In addition there were significant increases in, for example, health funding and support for carers.
5d. Out of your budget for programmes for older persons, which areas receive the highest budgetary allocation? Please rank the areas below in order of budget allocation.
[1 = highest amount, 9 = lowest amount]
| Provision of old age pension schemes | 1 |  | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access to affordable health care | | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Development and strengthening of geriatric services | | | | | | | 7 | | |
| Provision of long-term care services for older persons | | | 3 | | | | | | |
| Training and support for caregivers | | | | 4 | | | | | |
| Provision of affordable and age-friendly housing for older persons | | | | | | 6 | | | |
| Research on ageing | | | | | 5 | | | | |
| Support to older persons in emergency and conflict situations* | | | | | | | | | |
| Other, please specify: | | | | | | | | | |
*Funding for support for older people in emergency situations (floods, bushfires) is largely part of mainstream funding provided by the Australian Government, the states and territories and local governments. In flood and bushfire situations, the evacuation of older people from residential aged care facilities is a priority. The Australian Government’s Emergency Relief services provide support to address immediate needs in time of crisis. Assistance often includes food parcels and clothing, transport, chemist vouchers, help with accommodation, payment of bills, budgeting assistance and sometimes cash. In addition Emergency Relief agencies provide appropriate referrals to other services that help to address underlying causes of financial crisis.
6. Please describe what measures your country has undertaken or is planning to undertake with regard to the second review and appraisal of the implementation of MIPAA, as mandated by Economic and Social Council resolution 2010/14 of 22 July 2010? Please elaborate on the approach(es) used (such as bottom-up participatory approach, surveys) as well as the involvement of civil society including associations of older persons.
- Department of Health and Ageing;
- Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations;
- Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs;
- Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities;
- The Treasury;
- Attorney General’s Department;
- Australian Bureau of Statistics; and
- National Health and Medical Research Council.
Each of the following three reviews, for example, which are critical to the assessment of implementing MIPAA have involved significant ‘bottom up’ input which will also help shape the Government’s response to the future of ageing and aged care policy and to increasing the opportunities for economic participation by senior Australians.
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Pension Review
As part of the Pension Review mentioned above (Q3), in 2008-09 more than 2000 Australian pensioners and seniors’ representative groups contributed to the Review through their submissions and participation in public forums and focus groups.
The findings of the review informed the most significant reforms of the pension system in its one hundred years history, to make the pension more sustainable into the future and respond to the ageing population. The key features of the reforms introduced in 2009, were a significant increase to pension rates; improved indexation arrangements to better reflect changes to pensioners’ costs of living; tightening of income test taper; and increase in pension age to 67 for both men and women by 2023, starting in 2017.
Looking to the future of ageing and aged care
As noted above (Q3) the Productivity Commission was asked by the Government to develop detailed options for redesigning Australia’s aged care system. Stakeholders were invited to make a written submission to the Caring for Older Australians inquiry.
The Commission received over 900 submissions from individuals, aged care peak bodies, aged care industry organisations, academics, state, territory and local governments. In addition, Public Hearings were held across all states and territories, providing the opportunity for individuals and representatives of sector organizations to speak directly with the Commissioners.
The draft report was released on 21 January 2011 and provided an opportunity for the community to provide the Commission with feedback on its analysis and draft recommendations. The Commission has now provided the Government with its Final Report Caring for Older Australians, which was made publicly available on 8 August 2011. As it develops its response to the final report, the Government is engaging in conversations with the broader community about care and support for Australians as they age and their feelings about the significant changes proposed by the Commission.
Advisory Panel on the Economic Potential of Senior Australians
The Government has established an Advisory Panel on the Economic Potential of Senior Australians to ensure the potential of the older members of our community is considered in a range of policy debates.
The Advisory Panel is considering the benefits and opportunities that will come with a larger and more active community of senior Australians. It is examining how businesses and policy makers can assist senior Australians in their transition from the workforce into other valuable endeavours, such as supporting their families, mentoring, volunteering and community work.
Consultations are being held in communities across Australia. These involve individuals, representatives of community groups and service provider organisations, researchers and academics, local councils and urban planners, investment and business representatives.
The Advisory Panel’s first report, The Economic Potential of Older People: Changing face of society was presented to Government on 26 August 2011. More reports will be produced by the end of 2011.
Further information about the Advisory Panel’s work and reports may be accessed at: http://www.treasury.gov.au/EPSA/content/publications.asp
7. In the implementation of the MIPAA, has your Government experienced any of the following challenges?
[1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = always
| Need for greater capacity on policy development | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Need to accord higher priority to the issue | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Need for greater budgetary resources | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Need for increased personnel (human resources) dedicated to ageing issues | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Need to strengthen inter-ministerial or inter-departmental coordination | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Need for greater support from international agencies | 1 | 2 | 3 |
For example, preventative health is a fundamental part of health planning for the future. Since 2007 the Australian Government has made preventive health a major funding and policy priority. The Government has committed $AUD872 million over six years (from 2009-10) under the COAG Prevention National Partnership for a range of initiatives targeting the lifestyle risk factors of chronic disease.
In addition, in January 2011, the Australian National Preventive Health Agency was established to strengthen Australia’s investment and infrastructure in preventive health. The Agency is concentrating on reducing the burden arising from preventable health problems that will cause the largest growth in disability in older populations in future years. The work of the Agency may be accessed at: http://www.anpha.gov.au/internet/anpha/publishing.nsf/Content/home-1