THE new Seniors’ Alliance, formed to raise the profile of senior issues in Western Australia, will ask the Premier to assume responsibility for the seniors portfolio. Alliance chair Ken Marston, who is also chief executive of Council on the Ageing (COTA) in WA, says the newly-formed group will raise awareness of the urgent and important issues most relevant to the State’s seniors. He said the call for the Premier to assume responsibility for seniors’ issues was not a reflection on the current or past ministers. “Seniors’ issues need attention at the highest level,” Mr Marston said.
“The Premier’s Department has resources, policy and staff to deal with issues that cut across several government departments. “These issues need to be dealt with by someone with overview and influence across the whole of the government. “Areas such as housing, transport, aged care, support for carers, community care and social isolation are all crucial issues which need increased attention from government, in addition to giving much greater appreciation to the huge contribution made by seniors within our community and to our social framework, not least in the area of volunteering.” Mr Marston said the crisis in aged care was another high priority for the alliance.
“There is an acute shortage of nursing home beds and it is getting worse,” he said. Mr Marston said there was also an urgent need for increased public and social housing, as many seniors could not compete with rising rents in the private market. “There are 3000 seniors on the housing waiting list and it won’t go down,” he said. “There is a need to build appropriate housing, appropriately located near services. “The reality is that we have limited resources to meet the needs of older people, and there is an urgent need for all levels of government to move in time with our State’s demographic and prepare for our rapidly ageing population.” Mr Marston said seniors continued to make a very valuable contribution to the community and should not be thought of as a burden on society. The Seniors’ Alliance comprises a group of key representatives from the State’s foremost non-government organisations, including Aged and Community Services of WA, Aged Care Association Australia WA, Western Australia Council of Social Services, Advocare, Carers WA, Health Consumers’ Council, Alzheimer’s Australia WA and Council on the Ageing WA. |
