What we've been up to . . .          Back to Reports

November – December, 2006

I spoke at the launch of the Child and Seniors’ Safety books. This is another step forward to educate the community, this time on safety in the home, and safety for our children. The books are very readable … no pubic servant language in sight and are the result of some real consultation with the community.

Aged Care Queensland had its first Community Liaison Consultative meeting, on which OPSO is represented. I found the meeting an excellent opportunity for all representatives to discuss the future of retirement village living and the issues involved.

The Media Awards drew finalists from across Australia, and we were happy this year to have assistance from QUT in the form of their excellent theatre. (See reports at right)

The day after the Media Awards I spoke at the first meeting of a relatives’ group at the dementia section at the Dutch Retirement Village. The group was set up so that the relatives would have the opportunity to contribute their ideas to the running of the section .They asked me to speak on being heard. I thought the whole thing was a great idea, and so did the relatives.

On the Wednesday there was the sector meeting where every three months there is two-way communication between the presidents or executive officers of seniors’ organisations and the Department of Communities. There is a strong suggestion from the sector that this event should also include the opportunity to speak with the Minister or the Parliamentary Secretary. So far this remains an unmet need.

The following day was the finals of the Australia Day function. Here I caught up with the new member for Chatsworth, Chris Bombalas, a former journalism graduate of mine. He’s one of those rare combinations in the political world: a man of principle and high intelligence – it’s great when the political arena attracts fine people.

On the Friday we took a step further towards a better community transport system with a meeting with the Department of Transport. Our Forum with them was shifted to February to allow for the completion of their policy on community transport.

The following Monday we held our November Forum which had been deferred because of the Media Awards. Here we had the QUT students’ research on nursing homes, respite centres and mature age unemployment presented and great discussion about how we can further the recommendations next year. Our book on activities, which was distributed around the state 10 years ago’ is to be updated, and there was much discussion on ways and means of doing this.

When the November Ministerial Advisory Committee on Road Safety was held, a list of punitive measures to try to reduce the road toll was announced. There was much talk about the need for more discussion during the drafting and implementation process to ensure effective feedback and understanding by the public It was agreed the role of such a committee was not only to give advice, but also to sell the value of the legislation to the public. Therefore there was a need to consult on the final drafts. OPSO believes it is important that no government department omits that step. Such final consultation involves listening – by all parties.

Did some ABC radio debates, the final for the year, and one long interview with 3SER 977 FM in Melbourne on issues for seniors.

We attended the launch of the QUT video on the reality of ageing in which OPSO starred. This video will be used as a teaching tool in universities around Australia and is a tremendous initiative of QUT and Department of Health and Ageing in Canberra.

A group of Forum members visited Tall Trees, a model for future retirement village/nursing homes, at which residents receive nursing services in their own unity instead of having to move to a nursing home. We were most impressed with this initiative.

OPSO was represented by Ilma Ferguson at the first meeting of the Southern Area Mental Health Clinical Network Older Persons’ sub-group – this could be an interesting advisory group.

We also had an interesting meeting on transport with OPSO’s local State member.

The OPSO Writers’ Club delivered a book of children’s stories they wrote and illustrated for young children in Brisbane’s hospitals. The stories were well tested before hand on local up to eight year olds by obliging grandmothers.

Our final Forum for the year took the form of a delegating session where our work for next year was discussed and members indicated in what areas they wished to work. On the priority list is our public awareness campaign on elder abuse as well as the other areas mentioned earlier in this report. The Forum was followed by a Christmas lunch.

Maida Lilley has been extra busy with her representation on the health committees. These are now taking quite a bit of her time, a job well done.

Alan Hales has done a fantastic job chairing numerous safety sessions on the Gold Coast, a very worthwhile initiative of the Gold Coast Council. These were really well attended and included good practical illustrations of safety measures: like a kitchen stove exploding into flames when a pan of fat caught alight, and the ways to put this out, and the latest methods to resuscitate someone.

Quite a few of us attended the Premier’s Awards this year as OPSO includes key people from most of the seniors’ organisations. It is great to see so many dedicated volunteers, receiving awards. Queensland is lucky to have so many hard-working volunteers in each community. The awards are now 21 years old. One wonders whether the next generation will be the same … but then every generation since civilisation began has worried about that ...

Val French,
President

Since things re-opened in mid-January we have had a mountain of activities and policies to keep us on track

We began with Australia Day celebrations, when Dr Mary Daly and I went to the Premier’s Luncheon. On the day itself I was an Australia Day Ambassador at Kingaroy. Emeritus vice-president, Ilma Ferguson came with me and together we spent a most productive couple of days. What a progressive town! Their programs and facilities for youth are a part of what we have all been advocating. The community centre with its museum and art gallery and all other facilities are well worth seeing by anyone wanting to travel the lovely road through Esk to Kingaroy.

After the raising of the flag ceremony, their Australia Day function featured a light-hearted presentation of a huge range of awards that involved all sections of the community, and excellent food plus an Australia Day Cake . . . and a variety of flag waving from the big audience who, like us, obviously enjoyed every minute.

Honourary secretary Tracey Douglas and I visited the new State Library at South Bank and booked the function facilities for this year’s Media Awards . . . that should show off the state at its modern best. Vice president Alan Hales and I have been working throughout this time developing a publicity campaign for the Seniors’ Enquiry Line. They are handling the new programs for grandparents bringing up grandchildren outside the Department of Child Care’s jurisdiction. These children often miss out on many of the things others take for granted. The Department of Communities is now funding two-day camps for ‘grandfamilies’, as well as school camps, vacation and after-school activities, and approved activities including Scouts, PCYC, Girl Guides, dance classes, gymnastics etc. The Seniors Enquiry Line number is 1300 135 500.

Alan and I are also, with the Forum’s input, working on an elder abuse prevention campaign, which we shall run in the next few months to coincide with the launch of Department of Communities’ initiatives.

Tony Townsend is already preparing the first wave of nomination forms for the schools’ media awards competition. He will also be organising the Peoples’ Choice Awards this year.

Ilma and I enjoy training organisations and government departments to write in language that people will want to read. OPSO tries to encourage departments who write in ‘public service language’, and service providers who have their own jargon, to write brochures, booklets and newsletters and media releases for the public in language that can be understood and easily read by all people. To this end we are both giving training courses now and throughout the year. Anyone interested can contact us on 07 2319 2572.

There has also been nationwide television publicity on our course on ‘Making Effective Complaints’, especially to industry and government at all levels.

Other courses we run are on ‘Memoir Writing’, ‘Working with the Media’, and ‘Getting your Message Across’.

Our road safety courses have started again this year . . . any organisation wanting to ensure their members are updated on safer driving can contact us for bookings.

The Transport Forum, which OPSO is doing with the Department of Transport, has progressed. The department’s new transport policies have gone for approval and May is now the date for these to be presented at a Forum to across-government and public stakeholders, organised and facilitated by OPSO.

Vice president Maida Lilley is working many hours on a variety of health advisory committees – GP Partners (Brisbane North Division of General Practice) Consumer Panel; General Practitioners Advisory Council Queensland; the Chronic Disease Strategy Steering Committee; Aged Care Clinical Network of Southern Area Health Service.

Ilma Ferguson is on the new statewide Older Person’s Clinical Network. This umbrella group coordinates the three Brisbane area networks (South, North and Central) to bring the issues of consumers and carers of people with mental illness and other stakeholders to government for action. Judging by the terms of reference and the government stakeholders involved, that looks like a really positive initiative for older people.

She also attended the Transport Development and Solutions Alliance meeting, which canvassed from community developers and health service providers from regional centres for their ideas on successful community-based transport projects in their areas.

Our other emeritus vice president, Bill Benson – that indefatigable man who represents us all on the Centrelink Advisory Committee – is now also appointed to the Ministerial Regional Forum for the Northern Region.

International Women’s Day presents opportunities to speak on issues relating to older women, and the looming Federal election this year means our March Forum will be devoted to putting together the policy suggestions we are about to take to all parties.

Please feel free to send us your suggestions.

A group of us went to speak with Tall Trees again. This village is a model for new ways of looking at retirement and/or aged care. It is a model we are keen to help promote nationwide.

I now attend an initiative of Aged Care Queensland, a liaison committee meeting of across-government and community stakeholders in retirement villages. The recent meeting was most rewarding for all, and with ambulance and fire services involved, we found new ways to bring both safety and positive ageing guidelines to the villages.

We are also members of the Queensland Community Care Coalition. HACC programs are to be shifted to the Department of Communities and there needs to be major changes both in philosophy and functioning.

We joined in the media attention given to the figures that revealed 40 percent of older patients in the hospitals, and in some nursing homes, are not eating their meals, Although we are told this is not a nursing issue, it is certainly a care issue. OPSO is now working on answers with the Department of Communities and other potential care providers.

One of the most interesting functions we were invited to was the launch of the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, attended by Maida.

Let’s see whether March can be as productive!

Val French AM

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What we've been up to . . .

November - December, 2006

I spoke at the launch of the Child and Seniors’ Safety books. This is another step forward to educate the community, this time on safety in the home, and safety for our children. The books are very readable … no pubic servant language in sight and are the result of some real consultation with the community.

Aged Care Queensland had its first Community Liaison Consultative meeting, on which OPSO is represented. I found the meeting an excellent opportunity for all representatives to discuss the future of retirement village living and the issues involved.

The Media Awards drew finalists from across Australia, and we were happy this year to have assistance from QUT in the form of their excellent theatre. (See reports at right)

The day after the Media Awards I spoke at the first meeting of a relatives’ group at the dementia section at the Dutch Retirement Village. The group was set up so that the relatives would have the opportunity to contribute their ideas to the running of the section .They asked me to speak on being heard. I thought the whole thing was a great idea, and so did the relatives.

On the Wednesday there was the sector meeting where every three months there is two-way communication between the presidents or executive officers of seniors’ organisations and the Department of Communities. There is a strong suggestion from the sector that this event should also include the opportunity to speak with the Minister or the Parliamentary Secretary. So far this remains an unmet need.

The following day was the finals of the Australia Day function. Here I caught up with the new member for Chatsworth, Chris Bombalas, a former journalism graduate of mine. He’s one of those rare combinations in the political world: a man of principle and high intelligence – it’s great when the political arena attracts fine people.

On the Friday we took a step further towards a better community transport system with a meeting with the Department of Transport. Our Forum with them was shifted to February to allow for the completion of their policy on community transport.

The following Monday we held our November Forum which had been deferred because of the Media Awards. Here we had the QUT students’ research on nursing homes, respite centres and mature age unemployment presented and great discussion about how we can further the recommendations next year. Our book on activities, which was distributed around the state 10 years ago’ is to be updated, and there was much discussion on ways and means of doing this.

When the November Ministerial Advisory Committee on Road Safety was held, a list of punitive measures to try to reduce the road toll was announced. There was much talk about the need for more discussion during the drafting and implementation process to ensure effective feedback and understanding by the public It was agreed the role of such a committee was not only to give advice, but also to sell the value of the legislation to the public. Therefore there was a need to consult on the final drafts. OPSO believes it is important that no government department omits that step. Such final consultation involves listening – by all parties.

Did some ABC radio debates, the final for the year, and one long interview with 3SER 977 FM in Melbourne on issues for seniors.

We attended the launch of the QUT video on the reality of ageing in which OPSO starred. This video will be used as a teaching tool in universities around Australia and is a tremendous initiative of QUT and Department of Health and Ageing in Canberra.

A group of Forum members visited Tall Trees, a model for future retirement village/nursing homes, at which residents receive nursing services in their own unity instead of having to move to a nursing home. We were most impressed with this initiative.

OPSO was represented by Ilma Ferguson at the first meeting of the Southern Area Mental Health Clinical Network Older Persons’ sub-group – this could be an interesting advisory group.

We also had an interesting meeting on transport with OPSO’s local State member.

The OPSO Writers’ Club delivered a book of children’s stories they wrote and illustrated for young children in Brisbane’s hospitals. The stories were well tested before hand on local up to eight year olds by obliging grandmothers.

Our final Forum for the year took the form of a delegating session where our work for next year was discussed and members indicated in what areas they wished to work. On the priority list is our public awareness campaign on elder abuse as well as the other areas mentioned earlier in this report. The Forum was followed by a Christmas lunch.

Maida Lilley has been extra busy with her representation on the health committees. These are now taking quite a bit of her time, a job well done.

Alan Hales has done a fantastic job chairing numerous safety sessions on the Gold Coast, a very worthwhile initiative of the Gold Coast Council. These were really well attended and included good practical illustrations of safety measures: like a kitchen stove exploding into flames when a pan of fat caught alight, and the ways to put this out, and the latest methods to resuscitate someone.

Quite a few of us attended the Premier’s Awards this year as OPSO includes key people from most of the seniors’ organisations. It is great to see so many dedicated volunteers, receiving awards. Queensland is lucky to have so many hard-working volunteers in each community. The awards are now 21 years old. One wonders whether the next generation will be the same … but then every generation since civilisation began has worried about that ...

– Val French,
President