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SENIOR CITIZENS Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders): I would like to correct the previous speaker by telling him that my car is at least 12 years old. In my electorate of Flinders, the care given to aged people is particularly good. The elderly are treated with dignity and respect often within the communities where they have lived for most, if not all, of their life. This personal care is exemplified by the staff of Miroma Place Hostel in Cummins. All the staff attended a national residential dementia intensive training course run by TAFE. Miroma Place is the only nursing establishment in Australia to have had a 100 per cent staff participation and pass rate in the course. One volunteer also undertook the course, successfully reflecting community interest and participation in the care of the aged. The staff and volunteers are: Kay Meyers, Anitra Olsson, Caryll Cabot, Clarice Cummings, Kerry Green, Lyn Laube, Helen Hammond, Sonya Cronin and Barb Diment. Additionally, Barb Diment and Helen Hammond undertook the workplace category training course, which will enable them to train others in dementia care. Cowell people who completed the 18-month course were: Pauline Crettenden, Lynette King, Margaret Deer, Sharon Smith, Renate Grgurovic, Mary Cox, Caroline Heath, Glenys Kolosche, Colleen Panter and Judy Francis. Rural communities have a history of self reliance in providing for themselves many facilities and benefits that city people automatically expect from Government. I am proud of the hostels for the aged and the nursing homes in my electorate. Because this care arises out of the concern by the community for those in their midst, communities look to provide care for the aged ranging from unit accommodation and hostel facilities to nursing home care. Most of these have been built with the help of significant funds raised by local communities. These facilities are very much part of their community and therefore residents are included in visits, outings and other events. Residents who are able to do so assist in money raising through gala days, stalls and other functions, and are thus able to contribute to the community, a factor which gives them a sense of self worth and counteracts the feeling of being cast aside at this time of life. City people who have links with the country might well look at spending their retirement years in a rural town. This State has a tremendous resource in its elderly people. In South Australia, 14 per cent of the State’s population is aged over 65 compared with the national average of 12 per cent. It is estimated that within a single generation by the year 2021 the State’s over 65s will make up 19 per cent of the population. Speaking at the 1997 World Congress in Gerontology, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre, the then Minister for the Ageing (Hon. David Wotton) said that for 80 per cent of people no special services or treatment are implied by the mere fact of growing old. He said: The ageing population will give South Australia several advantages: first, in the pool of wisdom and expertise that we have; secondly, the access we enjoy to the valuable work of retired volunteers; and, thirdly, in many cases, accumulated life savings which can be invested wisely to generate returns for the individual and the State economy. Older people are valued in South Australia. That’s why the Liberal State Government has endorsed the concept of positive ageing, encouraging older people to live in good health with dignity and respect. I am proud of the seniors in my electorate and the contribution they make. Two weeks ago I was a guest at the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital Port Lincoln Auxiliary, where Pearl Beinke was presented with life membership for her work for the auxiliary over more than 30 years. Her husband Eric Beinke was awarded life membership last year. Last week, older volunteers Stan Oats and Alex Nicol were presented with a 10 year service award by Red Cross for their work as installers of baby capsules in cars in the Red Cross Baby Safe project. Another senior, Rae Brewster, organised a very successful celebration at Streaky Bay on the 1997 October long weekend to mark 125 years of schooling in that district. Under the Government’s ‘Ageing—A 10 Year Plan’ we have embraced the concept of full citizenship, that is, participating in the responsibilities, rewards, pleasures and duties of the community, undiminished by age, gender, disability, race or any other artificial barrier. The 10 year plan looks at ageing from the perspective of well-being. It recognises the importance of independence, inter-generational contact, consumer rights and equal status for older persons. This is the approach across all State Government agencies. Where services are required, the most successful approach is one of partnership which taps into and combines the best of private, non-government and community sectors. |
E-mail address:
flinders.portlincoln@parliament.sa.gov.au
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