Count Us In! E-newsletter #3

Social Inclusion Forum 2012

COTA Queensland held its annual Seniors Week forum in August on the topic of the social inclusion of people as they age.

More than 50 representatives of community, government and seniors groups identified barriers to inclusion in the areas of workforce participation, housing and health. 

Entitled "Count Us In!", the forum developed potential solutions with the guidance of expert presentations from Professor Philip Taylor (Monash University), Dr Maree Petersen (University of Queensland) and Ros Walker (Queensland Council of Social Service). Consumer perspectives on the theme were also contributed by Michael Po Saw (Australian Myanmar Friendship Association of Queensland) and Bernice Ralph (Ipswich Regional Tenants Group).

The forum was held at the Brisbane office of the Anti-Discrimination Commission of Queensland and Dr Robert (Uncle Bob) Anderson OAM (Member of the Brisbane Council of Elders), welcomed participants to country, with a brief talk by the Deputy Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Neroli Holmes.

Participants had the opportunity to meet and discuss issues with the new Minister for Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, The Honourable Tracy Davis MP over lunch

Further information about the presentations and the forum will appear on our website at: http://www.cotaqld.org.au

COTA Queensland's 55th AGM

Join us in farewelling our retiring Chair Mrs. Lyn Kelman AM after  almost 10 years of  service and the announcment of  COTA Queenslands new Board.

Special Guest  speaker Mr. Forbes Smith, Energy & Water Ombudsman Queensland.

Date:  Wednesday 19 September 2012
Time:  Commencing at 10:00am
Place: Training Room 1, Level 17, 53 Albert Street Brisbane 

Morning tea will be provided.
RSVP by Wednesday 12 September 2012
3316 2999 or info@cotaqld.org.au

Seniors Online Security Project

Are you interested in learning about computer and internet security?

The Seniors Online Security (SOS) project is a collaborative project with the Carindale PCYC, Queensland Police Service, Office of the Information Commissioner and the Australian Government.

This project was funded by the Australian federal government and was officially launched on Monday 20 August 2012 as part of Seniors Week.

The SOS project has developed a training package targeted at improving the ability of seniors to use their computers in a confident and safe manner.  Each module (computer security, identity crime, social networking, fraudulent emails, and internet banking) is available as an individual workbook or resources are available to facilitate group delivery.

If you are interested in more information about this project, or to download any of these training materials, please visit:

http://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/cscp/eCrime/sos.htm or http://www.carindalepcyc.org.au/

Age-friendly Community Forum in Mackay

COTA Queensland will join together with the Mackay Regional Council to co-host an Age-friendly Communities Forum on the 23rd October 2012.

This day  will feature Professor Jeni Warburton,  Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University as the keynote speaker  on age-friendly and rural communities.  COTA Queensland's  Chief Executive  Mark Tucker-Evans will also speak on the Age-Friendly Communities masterclass  held at the International Federation of Ageing Conference in Prague in June 2012.

http://cotaqld.org.au/2012/08/creating-age-friendly-commuinties/

National Eldercare Research

Research is being conducted by University of Queensland PhD Researchers into how caring for elders with physical (i.e. frailty) or mental disability impacts on carers ability to manage their job roles at work, home and the impact on their health and wellbeing.

If you provide care to an elder who requires assistance with their daily living, please follow the link below to register your interest and to find out more information. In accordance with University and research policy, all participants will be ensured confidentiality at all stages of the study.

https://experiment.psy.uq.edu.au/eldercare/

Calls for the Australian Government to increase the Newstart Allowance

COTA Australia is supporting calls by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) for the Australian Government to increase Newstart Allowance (and other income support payments such as Widow Allowance and Sickness Allowance) in the next Federal Budget.

COTA has joined with the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and others in saying: “$35 a day is not enough for anyone to live on. It is not acceptable that we are expecting people on allowances to live in poverty."

COTA Australia also issued media releases in August on the topics of housing, dental care, human rights, consumer protection, dementia and aged care reform.

You can access COTA Australia media releases and submissions on their website:
http://www.cota.org.au/

Preview of the HACC Service Provider Survey

COTA Queensland recently surveyed Home and Community Care (HACC) Service Providers in Queensland to seek the views of HACC agencies in relation to  key policy and contextual changes impacting on HACC service delivery over the next three years and aspects of service delivery that will be impacted by the current transitional HACC arrangements. 

COTA Queensland is developing a detailed summary of findings from the survey.  Following is an initial synopsis profiling the service providers who participated in the survey.

The Agencies
A total of 34 agencies across the HACC Planning Regions of Queensland responded to the survey.   Most of the respondents were not-for-profit agencies, some were state government and one agency was a for-profit/private. 

The majority of the agencies operated in both the Aged Care and Disability sectors, some in Aged Care and two in Disability. Agencies identified that they provided multiple HACC service types.  The most commonly reported services were Social Support, Domestic Assistance, Personal Care and Respite. It was estimated that 30932 people were receiving services from the participating agencies at the time of the survey.