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OPSO Media Awards (31 Oct 2008)
Australia's media have received high praise for their outstanding work this year in empowering older people. Judges of the 2008 OPSO (Older People Speak Out) Media Awards announced at a function at Southbank in Brisbane last night where 30 winners from members of the media and the public received Queensland and National Awards. Australia’s first Ambassador for Ageing, Nolene Brown, presented the awards at the Queensland State Library. The Federal Government is to be congratulated on recognising how vital it is to have an Ambassador who truly represents the value of ageing positively and who understands the wide range of issues that affect this rapidly growing demographic. Brisbane's Madonna King, who works for both the ABC and The Courier-Mail won both the National Radio and National Metropolitan Print Awards as well as the Queensland Radio Award. The independent judges, all professionals in journalism, also awarded her the rarely given special OPSO Award for Excellence. OPSO President Val French MA said the Awards are given to members of the media who with excellence best portray older people ageing positively. "When they began 16 years ago, journalists wrote about older people parachute jumping or riding motor bikes...doing the unexpected. Volunteering was added to this and then, gradually, articles appeared showing older people among Australia's leading businessmen, artists and authors and other high achievers," she said. "This year we have empowerment – the media have given us back a voice. The two generations who marched for social justice from the years of the Great Depression though World War II and all the years that followed have been given a voice once again,” Ms French said. What has happened to positive ageing? (6 Oct 2008) We are on the brink of huge social and economic changes as society changes – yet in the Queensland Government’s future planning programs circulated recently there are only a couple of sentences mentioning ageing – and these are negative: no plans, and no vision of how to use an ageing society positively. Where is the passion, where are the ideas to see beyond the problems to the solutions? If we encourage employers to grow more positive about ageing – 70 is the new 60 – and if we make it economically attractive to remain in the workforce, we can find new ways of utilising job sharing, tapering of hours and mentoring. Many people choose to retire because they are tired, burnt out. Six months to a year into retirement many are bored. Why not offer a retirement–long-service leave as an option and then a return to your job in either a full or part-time capacity? Where are the plans to encourage older people to volunteer in schools, sport, nursing homes or home care by paying out-of-pocket expenses? If all the older volunteers stopped working Queensland would be in a sorry state. Where are the plans for including local and community transport to meet the needs of older people and young mothers in the suburbs and country towns? Queensland Transport had draft policies on this a year ago, establishing them as the lead agency in co-ordinating community transport state-wide. What has happened to this vision for Queensland? Why not pre-booked multi-hiring, of taxis, taxi buses and off-peak club and school and home and community care buses, so we can all get places – even to public transport? Where are the plans to meet the housing crisis as rents soar beyond the means of older people? Solving these problems is not difficult – older people themselves are a fountain of creative ideas, so why not ask them? In fact, why not harness the Seniors’ Roundtable to harness, develop and advise on these ideas? We also need a Government Department for Ageing and a Minister for Ageing devoted entirely to this portfolio. The Office for Ageing was once established to play a key role in developing such state-wide policies in preparation for an ageing society. For some reason this role has been forgotten and its staff members reduced to a skeleton maintenance team. And as for policies, once upon a time they were actually presented to representatives of seniors’ organisations for comment and changes – but then in those days there were actual policies for an ageing society.– Val French AM SINGLE
PENSIONS Dear Sir, The previous Labor Government solved this problem by appointing The Older Australians Advisory Council, backed by a branch in each state. Members of the Council were all over 60 and covered a range of older ages.They came from a broad variety of backgrounds and were recognised among their peers for their understanding of older people's issues. Throughout the term of the government, this Council consulted the community on those issues needing urgent attention and then advised the appropriate ministers. This worked well. While this budget showed an excellent grasp of all other commumnty issues, it failed to recognise the urgent need to address the inadequacy of the single age pension. If there had been an Older Australians Advisory Council, this would not have happened. Ministers would have been advised of the trust that older people had in them to increase the single pension in their first budget. – Val French AM MEDIA RELEASE 2 April 2008 – 2020 Summit OPSO president Val French has been selected to go to Canberra as part of the 2020 Summit. She will be contributing to the “strengthening communities, supporting families, social inclusion” section. She said this section is directly in keeping with all of OPSO’s work within the community. “The national and state-based councils described in this article are a basis from which we can build an integrated society that actually values its older members and includes them politically, financially and socially,” she said. “This means changes within the community, within the family, and within in the workforce. It means changes to the way we prepare for our later years, changes in how the workforce operates, changes to the way we blindly accept third-world poverty among our older community, and changes to the negative attitudes held by the general community towards ageing. “OPSO has built its policies in direct consultation with seniors in cities and rural communities. “Our innovative solutions would mean changes to attitudes, to cultures of political neglect, and to waste of human resources,” Ms French said. MEDIA RELEASE 13 March 2008 – GP shortage OPSO supports the patients in the Prime Minister’s electorate in their fight to keep their medical practice alive. OPSO president Val French said the shortage of general practitioners in that electorate was reflected across Australia. “This is partly the result of insufficient graduates to replace those retiring through age or moving to less stressful areas of medicine, but in inner city areas it is compounded by regulations making over -seas trained doctors ineligible for a Medicare Provider number for day-time practice. “A suggested six-month moratorium on these regulations would solve immediate problems. “Long term, the recommendation from Stones Corner General Practitioner Dr Janet Clarkson that there be new legislation to allow doctors who have practised for three years in rural Australia unrestricted provider privileges has a great deal of merit. “ – Val French, |
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