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Register today and save with an early bird registration
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Register today and save with an early bird registration
Don't pay full price! Register today to secure your registration at the early bird discounted rate. Early bird registration is only available until Tuesday 22 March 2016. For more information or to register, visit ifa2016.org.au
All presenting authors are required to register and pay to attend the Conference. All authors accepted in the Call for Late Abstracts are required to register by Tuesday 22 March 2016.
Program Highlights
At the Conference you will have the opportunity to listen and learn from:
• Dr John Beard, Director of the Department of Ageing and Life Course, World Health Organization (WHO) opening the IFA Conference discussing the pivotal World Report on Ageing and Health
• IFA's United Nations Representatives, Ms Helen Hamlin, Ms Valerie Levy and Dr Cynthia Stuen along with AARP's, Ms Erica Dhar to discuss the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
• Dr Jennifer Campbell from Grantmakers in Aging along with IFA's Mr Shaw, Dr John Beard and Pfizer's Mr Christopher Gray talking about creating a framework for sustaining Age-friendly communities
• Dr Catherine Barratt and colleagues to discuss the then and now of older LGBTI people's rights
• Prof Lisa Brown from Palo Alto University and Prof Christine Stephens, Dr Sally Keeling and Dr Brendan Stevenson from New Zealand will share lessons learnt from earthquakes and hurricanes and suggest targeted strategies and programs for older adults to minimise the too often deadly impacts
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We're Live!
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COTA (Council on the Ageing) Queensland is the Seniors Peak giving older Queenslanders a voice on issues that affect them.
Radio COTA, a weekly podcast available on SoundCloud will focus on topical and relevant information for older Queenslanders.
COTA Queensland Chief Executive Mark Tucker-Evans said "We are excited to be connecting with and informing communities throughout the state and we invite people to join us every Wednesday by tuning into Radio COTA."
In the first episode listeners will learn about COTA Queensland’s history, present and future and hear about Age-friendly Cities and Communities with Dr Kathleen Brasher, a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group, Global Network Age-friendly Cities and Communities.
"We are the legacy of 100 years of extraordinary, fantastic, public health measures and good approaches to health and to growing old." Dr. Brasher said.
"When Australia was first federated in 1901, only 4% of the population was over 65. Within 100 years we are up to about 15% of the population as a whole, as a country being over the age of 65. And by 2525, will be a quarter of the population." - An exert from our interview with Dr Kathleen Brasher.
Radio COTA is hosted by media veteran Andy Neil and can be accessed through any mobile device or computer.
"In the following weeks you can look forward to some fantastic interviews and a wealth of information leading up to the 13th Global Conference on Ageing in June and Seniors Week in August." Mr Neil said.
For more information visit www.cotaqld.org.au or subscribe to our channel on SoundCloud.
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Financial protection for Queensland seniors
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The Palaszczuk Government has agreed to take action to provide greater financial protection for older Queenslanders.
Seniors Minister Coralee O’Rourke said a Parliamentary Inquiry into the adequacy of existing financial protections for Queensland seniors had made 43 recommendations to protect older Queenslanders from serious financial mismanagement, exploitation or abuse, and the Government was responding.
“Sadly, older people can be vulnerable to financial abuse, with 1377 reported cases of elder abuse in Queensland last year - and many of these coming from a family member,” Mrs O’Rourke said.
The Palaszczuk Government supports or supports in principle 41 of the 43 recommendations. Two recommendations were not supported by the Government, because one relates to Federal Government responsibilities and the other would duplicate powers already in place in Queensland.
The government has carefully considered the recommendations and committed to:
• developing a whole of government strategy for seniors
• exploring options to formalise family agreements
• developing a housing strategy which encourages affordable and accessible housing options to support seniors to live safe and independently
• developing financial resilience and inclusion strategies including credit and insurance needs
• improving pathways to link older Queenslanders with safe, affordable, alternative financial service products
• supporting seniors to engage with computer and internet technologies, and
• developing a program that promotes awareness of elder abuse and powers of attorney
COTA Queensland is bringing thogether leaders from the United States, Canada, China, New Zealand, Japan, United Kingdom and Belgium to Queensland in June for the 13th Global Conference on Ageing to lead discussions and challenge our opinions and knowledge on elder abuse, neglect and rights with question such as:
• Is legislation the panacea against elder abuse?
• What are the most effective evidence based elder abuse programs?
• Are legislative and administrative frameworks adequate?
• Can a rights based approach make a difference?
• Should legal safeguards be mandated?
• What is the function of the UN Open-ended Group in Ageing?
• Is there an opportunity for the WHO Strategy and Plan to put elder abuse on the global agenda?
• What strategies are effective for those older persons most at risk?
• How can stronger legal rights be established?
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Let’s Put An End To Alarmist Pension Headlines And Review Retirement Incomes Properly
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Media Release: COTA Australia 2 March 2016
Leading seniors advocate, COTA Australia, today renewed its call for a considered, holistic and independent Retirement Incomes Review in light of yet another round of exaggerated claims about the age pension.
COTA Australia CE, Yates said, that despite alarmist media headlines today claiming pensioners are demanding more than their fair share of tax-payer dollars, the Centre for Independent Studies report to which they refer, actually makes some reasonable recommendations about our retirement incomes system which an independent review should seriously consider.
"It is disappointing that yet again we are seeing such alarmist claims about the impact of the pension on the federal budget's bottom line," Mr Yates said.
"The fact is, access to the pension was significantly tightened only last year and all the expert reports consistently show we have one of the most modest and targeted pension systems in the world.
"The OECD's 2015 Pensions at a Glance report shows that Australia's pension system is sustainable over the long term, spending just 3.5 per cent of GDP on age pensions, compared to the OECD average of 7.9 per cent.
"The OECD also recently found that more than one third of Australian pensioners are living below the poverty line, ranking the country among the worst for ensuring financial security for the elderly.
Read More
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Human Rights Act for Queensland
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Queenslanders are being given the opportunity to have a say on the possible implementation of a Human Rights Act in Queensland thanks to an inquiry launched by the Queensland Government. In December 2015, Queensland Attorney-General, Yvette D’ath announced that the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee of State Parliament would hold an inquiry to determine whether a Human Rights Act is the best way to protect human rights into the future. The committee is due to report back to the Legislative Assembly by 30 June 2016.
The ADCQ is assisting Queenslanders to understand what a Human Rights Act would mean in practice by holding free public information sessions across the state in February and March. If you are interested in attending a public information session, click on the links below to book or email training@adcq.qld.gov.au. If you require an interpreter please advise at the time of booking.
Read More
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New translated resource available – The service we offer you
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Source: Australian Human Rights Commissioner
There is a new addition in our range of translated resources. The service we offer you factsheet is now in seventeen translated community languages including Arabic, Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Dutch, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Macedonian, Maltese, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish and Vietnamese.
The service we offer you describes what the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner can do for people raising concerns or complaints about Australian Government funded aged care and the service people can expect from us.
You can order this factsheet or any other resources for free using our online resource order form.
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The National Disability Insurance Agency registrations for Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC)
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Face-to-face consultation sessions in Brisbane and Townsville.
Background
At the end of last year, the NDIA released a consultation draft of the ILC Commissioning Framework. The Framework outlines how the Agency will fund and manage ILC activities in the future.
In July 2015, all governments in Australia agreed to the ILC Policy Framework. The policy has now been given to the Agency to implement.
The Agency has already completed some work on the framework, however, before this is completed, the Agency would like to talk more with people with disability, their families and carers as well as people who work in the sector about some key parts of the Framework.
What is the consultation session about?
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What is UNIVERSAL HOUSING DESIGN?
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“Universal Housing Design (UHD) refers to designing Australian homes to meet the changing needs of home occupants throughout their lifetime.”
The Universal Housing Design recommendations include ‘easy living’ features that aim to make homes easier and safer for all occupants, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of:
• people with disability
• ageing Australians
• people with temporary injuries, and
• families with young children
A universally designed home should:
• have easy access entries
• be easy to move in and around
• be capable of easy and cost-effective adaptation; and
• be designed to anticipate and respond to the changing needs of home occupants
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New Legislation Gives Older Australians Real Choice And Control Over Services And Care In Their Home
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Media Release: COTA Australia 4 Macrh 2016
Legislation passed in the Senate yesterday giving older Australians more choice about their home care services is a very welcome improvement to our aged care system, leading seniors advocate COTA Australia said today.
COTA Chief Executive Ian Yates said the new provisions will for the first time allow older people to choose their services and who provides them, rather than having services determined for them.
The new legislation will allow people who are unhappy with the services they are receiving, or who need to relocate out of the area, to change providers and keep their package.
"These changes are about giving older people back significantly more control over their lives when they need home care, and are a long overdue ," Mr Yates said,
"Currently aged care packages are allocated by government to aged care service providers, so when an older person is assessed as eligible for support in their home they then have to find a provider in their area who has a package available and hope the provider is responsive to their needs.
"Under this new legislation funding will follow the consumer not the provider, allowing people to be given the package and choose the care provider that best suits their individual needs."
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Webinar invitation: Increasing Choice in Home Care – Stage 1 – Legislative changes
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Source Department of Health, Ageing and Aged Care Group
You are invited to attend a webinar on 11 March 2016 about the proposed legislative changes to home care arrangements as part of the first stage of the home care reforms announced by the Government in the 2015-16 Budget.
The webinar will cover the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Increasing Consumer Choice) Bill 2016 that was introduced into Parliament on 11 February 2016.
The webinar will explain the changes proposed in the Bill and provide an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions.
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Free Online LGBTI Aged Care Training
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Strategy: We educate and inform service providers, policy makers, and L-G-B-T-I people and communities about changes to inclusive practice in the Australian aged care sector.
Eductaion: Silver Rainbow is delivering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) aged care awareness training to a broad range of staff working in ageing and aged care, students studying aged care and aged care assessment teams nationally. Silver Rainbow educates and informs service providers, policy makers, and L-G-B-T-I people and communities about changes to inclusive practice in the Australian aged care sector. Silver Rainbow is a national partnership between Alliance members in every state and territory.
By celebrating and embracing diverse genders, bodies, sexualities, and relationships, this combination of training and education will foster better health and wellbeing outcomes for older Australian’s.
More info and regostrationss email ollie.hand@lgbtihealth.org.au
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Inclusive Healthcare in Community Aged Care
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Exploring how we can work together to identify diversity characteristics among older people and how they may impact access to appropriate healthcare
The Royal District Nursing Service is a not-for-profit provider of home nursing and healthcare services, at the forefront of developing innovative home healthcare programs. Through funding from the Department of Social Services, the RDNS Institute and Education & Learning Centre are charged with developing and delivering comprehensive diversity training for community aged care workers.
In this interactive workshop you will:
• Examine the meaning of diversity with other healthcare workers
• Explore how diversity characteristics relate to the healthcare needs and services available for older people
• Discuss what you and your organisation can do to positively impact an older person’s healthcare
Be part of the diversity and inclusion practice and policy change in your organisation and help set the standard across our communities
Who should attend?
Frontline community care staff, including care workers, nurses, social workers, allied health professionals . All those working behind the scenes, including managers and supervisors.
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