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The Rudd Government’s proposed Australia 2020 Summit agenda does not adequately address the consequences of an ageing population, according to Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA) CEO, Rod Young.
The summit will bring together 1000 of the country’s “brightest brains” at Parliament House in April to help develop a long-term national strategy.
It will focus on 10 key areas including economic direction, health and social inclusion.
But Mr Young told Australian Ageing Agenda that a Government-issued statement about the summit only mentioned issues related to ageing and aged care once under the major topic headings.
“It seems rather perplexing that the whole issue of ageing has been largely overlooked at a time when all western countries and some others such as China, are looking at ageing as one of the major demographic changes of the 21st Century,” said Mr Young.
“It seems that ageing and aged care are off the agenda in Australia. We are just hopeful that there will be some people sitting at the table who will have some expertise in ageing and aged care and will advance those issues.”
Mr Young has written to Kevin Rudd expressing his concerns. Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) CEO, Greg Mundy, has also urged the Prime Minister to include ageing and aged care in the discussions.
“Ageing impacts on many areas of policy: health and social care, housing, the built environment, workforce and productivity,” he said in a statement.
“It should be a core consideration in the summit. Population ageing should be a cause for celebration but also a prompt for preparation for the changes that it is bringing”
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