Social exclusion for older Australians?

The Shadow Minister for Ageing says the Government should have included a respresentative for older people on its Social Inclusion Board.

The Rudd Government has been criticised for failing to appoint a representative of the ageing community to its 14-person Social Inclusion Board, which was announced last week.

The Shadow Minister for Ageing, Margaret May said older Australians were being excluded from ALP policy.

“The Rudd Government’s dismissal of older Australians is making them feel isolated, insecure, unwanted and unimportant when the exact opposite is the case,” she said.

“Mr Rudd does not appreciate the huge challenges our ageing population is presenting to Australia.

“It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue because the health and wellbeing of our seniors is being threatened.”

But Sandra Hills, the General Manager of Aged and Community Care at the Brotherhood of St Laurence – whose CEO was appointed to the board – said the issue was not so simple.

Ms Hills said a more pressing concern was to determine how the community could provide input to the committee.

“I would think what we need to do is find out how Mr and Mrs Joe Public can have access to the committee. How can they be engaged?”

Tags: bsl,

Leave a Reply