|
|
|
|
Annual Report 2008 To begin this 2008 report it is worth looking back on our reason for being. OPSO began as a result of national research by the Commonwealth Government at the beginning of the 1990’s. In this research over 80% of older people reported they felt marginalised, that the community and consequently older people had a negative attitude towards ageing and that this leads to many social problems such as social isolation, suicide, depression, unemployment and elder abuse. They blamed this and the lack of government interest in ageing on the media’s failure to report on older people and their activities and their contribution to the community. At the suggestion of the media OPSO was established to train older people and their organisations in working with the media and with government and to become a vehicle for change. The Media Awards grew out of the first year of OPSO’s work as a further means of encouraging the media to report positively on older people. 2008 has certainly illustrated the success of this strategy. In Queensland we have worked closely with other organisations as members of the Seniors’ Round Table to deliver a united voice on policy to the Queensland Government. We worked as members of the reference group for universities in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland on a major research project on loneliness and supervised three groups on students QUT students in research projects on pensions, independent retirees and loneliness, social isolation and depression in nursing homes. We judged the nursing home awards for the Daniel’s Shield Organisation. We continued our lectures at the Police Academy and initiated and participated in a training film for the police on communicating with older people. This task has now been completed. Thanks to Pixie Annat’s hard work, our hospital patient feeding programme has at last been trialed at Prince Charles Hospital. The outcome of our Housing Speak Out at the end of 2007 was the establishment of a senior’s branch at Queensland Shelter. This branch has developed an innovative senior’s housing project which should be trialled early next year. We continue to work with the Council of Grandparents which was established by OPSO to give a united voice to grandparent groups. Maree Lubach and Tracey Douglas are to be congratulated on the development of these projects. I was happy to represent OPSO at the Summit in Canberra and then in Queensland. OPSO has taken one of the main thrusts of the Summit – building integrated communities – and we are engaged in planning working with two primary schools and the PCYC locally to trial intergenerational programmes that will link older and younger people in activities in which both groups will share their skills. The PCYC programme will begin in the school holidays and the primary school programme early next year when we hope to work towards “big picture” activities like a youth radio station and weekly discos and training in things like carpentry, mechanics and dress-making. The young people will teach us computers and assist in nursing homes and retirement villages. OPSO’s Media Awards, realised their original goal this year when the media came forward across Australia to empower older people to speak out about their biggest issue – their poverty. We were no longer being “done to” we were empowered to act and fight for ourselves. Positive ageing has become of age. OPSO worked closely with the interstate groups fighting for pension increases, particularly those groups in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales who have organised rallies and set up special organisations to fight for pension increases. We have been able to help them develop their media voice and give them the benefit of our media contacts and experience. Since my appointment as a member of the Reference Group on Pensions, I have been extra busy with trips to Canberra and masses of reading, always strongly supported in this by Maida Lilley. Media has been constant and certainly deserve our thanks for their tremendous support. Our Writer’s Club has worked quite well on its own this year while waiting for Ilma’s health to improve. Our partnership with Volunteering Queensland has given us excellent office space in the city centre and I am happy to represent OPSO on their Board. A few weeks ago as President of OPSO, I accepted the position of Patron of Brisbane Seniors’ Online and we plan to work together for our mutual benefit. Our close association with John Thiedeman and his welcome army of men has proved of great advantage to both organisations. We continue our close relationship with all the Sixty and Better and have worked closely with them and Home Assist Organisations, Aged Care Queensland, the Older Women’s Network as well as some of the Gold Coast groups, doing media courses and other presentations. We celebrated Senior’s Week with our Dance Extravaganza which brings together many cultures in a wonderful fun evening, and draws us closer to all our ethnic community friends. Thank you – especially Irene Cayas. Ray Bruyn continued to give our road safety courses, this year in the Ipswich districts. OPSO is still fighting for the integrated community transport programme designed by Martin Thomsett in the Department of Transport. Although we were at the final stages of having this programme put into action when Anna Bligh came to power, nothing further has happened. Recent information that they are handing health transport over to health, and abandoning the whole plan for community based transport has led us to make an immediate appointment with Transport Parliamentary Secretary Chris Bombalus. This is in keeping with the recently launched Queensland 2 which in outlining Queensland's future has completely ignored older people except for three negative sentences. As a result of October’s Speakout representatives from other organisations are working together to bring our dissatisfaction to the notice of the Premier and her advisors. We have already sent a letter to the Premier and meetings with the advisors are being organised for the next two weeks. While I continue to represent OPSO on the Road Safety Advisory Committee and the Police Task Force on Crime Against Seniors, Maida Lilley represents us on health committees and pedestrian safety. Our management committee must be one of the hardest working committees in Australia, especially during the organisation of the Media Awards. The key to Media Awards organisation is Tony Townsend. Thank you Tony for your tremendous work. Thanks also to Tracey Douglas and Alan Hale as usual for their tremendous contribution. Florence Nixon, Bill Benson and Mary Daly and Ilma Ferguson for their contribution and advice, and Barbara Chalker for her help on our new housing project. As usual Anne Carlsson is there as support when admin gets desperate. An extra thank you to Tess and Grant Dobinson for all your work on the web-page and for our newsletter, and your great work in looking after the Media Award finalists and getting them to Brisbane A special thank you to the judges of the Media Awards, those from OPSO and those most welcome judges from QUT and Bond University who each year freely give us their time and expertise. I would also like to thank out local member Phil Reeves for his and his office’s never failing support and the great assistance also the assistance of Minister Judy Spence and her office, and Chris Bombalas MP, From the Commonwealth, I would like to thank Ministers Jenny Macklin MP and Justine Elliot MP and Jan McLucas MP for all their assistance, and Belinda Bromley and Wendy Partridge from the Commonwealth Dept of Health and Ageing for their continued help and advice. A special thank you to Ambassador for Ageing Noeline Brown, whose valued appearance at the Awards was indeed a great highlight – Val French AM, |
