Council on the Ageing NSW releases engagement report called What matters to you?

A consumer reference group session asked residents from the Port Macquarie and Oxley electorates over the age of 50 about their key concerns.

The results fed into the Council on the Ageing (COTA) NSW engagement report called What matters to you?

A third of the people in the Port Macquarie engagement group did not have private health insurance.

The engagement report showed people wanted to remain living on their rural properties but considered that they were not well supported to do that.

The group also highlighted the importance of promotion of local services for older people and social groups through traditional means, while many in the group felt they were underemployed.

COTA spoke to people over the age of 50 about what matters to them across the five broad themes of the NSW Ageing Strategy: health, employment, housing, transport and social inclusion.

More than 300 consumers were included in 18 sessions and represented 51 per cent of NSW electorates.

They form part of COTA’s larger engagement with older people including a survey of over 7500 people on housing issues and a recent national survey.

COTA NSW chief executive officer Meagan Lawson said the report demonstrated the necessity of asking older people their opinions.

“Older people often feel they aren’t being listened to – but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have anything to say,” she said.

“It’s time that somebody pays attention – which is what we’ve done with this engagement report.

“We talked to people all over NSW to ask what they care about and what matters most to them.”

The report highlighted key areas of concern for older people across NSW including the need for communication training for medical staff and the affordability, availability and accessibility of housing.

Other key concerns raised included discrimination against older workers and job seekers and difficulty getting around local areas because of a lack of footpaths and poor footpath maintenance.

“Older people feel like they’re getting left behind and that they aren’t being listened to,” Ms Lawson said.

“This report demonstrates that they do have a range of concerns and opinions – they’re just looking for someone to listen.”

She said 49.5 per cent of people in the Port Macquarie electorate were over 50 years old, so their opinion wasn’t just nice to have – it was vital.

Engagement report findings, as well as those from COTA NSW’s wider engagement with older people in NSW, will be used to inform COTA NSW’s policies.

COTA NSW, an independent consumer-based organisation, is the peak organisation for people over 50 in the state.

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