The daughter of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Sue Pieters-Hawke, has been appointed along with former Brisbane Lord Mayor, Sallyane Atkinson to co-chair a 16-member national dementia advisory group.
Ms Pieters-Hawke has cared for her mother, Hazel Hawke, since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease seven years ago.
She is also the author of a bestselling book – Hazel’s Journey – which tells the story of her mother’s experience with dementia.
“For the first time, the re-vamped council will have a carer in a key role and providing expert advice,” said the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot.
Ms Atkinson chaired the previous dementia taskforce.
The new Dementia Advisory Group has been established to build on the work done by the Dementia Taskforce and its three working groups established in July 2005 under the former Government.
Its role will be to advise the Government on Australia’s response to the challenge of an ageing population, particularly the growing incidence of dementia.
The group met for the first time this morning in the NSW town of Kingscliff where the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, announced more than $9 million in grants to fund dementia research.
In total, fifteen grants have been awarded to researchers in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.
Among the list of grant recipients were:
– Professor Dimity Pond, from the University of Newcastle, who will study the management of dementia in general practice;
– Dr Marie Cooke, from Griffith University, who will look at the effects of music on behaviour;
– Professor Len Gray, from the University of Queensland, who will study the clinical outcomes of hospitalisation of people with dementia; and
– Professor Maria A Fiatarone Singh, from the University of Sydney, who will study mental activity to improve brain function in identified at-risk individuals.
There are currently more than 200,000 Australians living with dementia but that number is expected to double within the next 20 years as the population ages.
