Dignity and security for older people

Victoria's population is living longer. This should be a cause for celebration and an opportunity for society to enjoy more experience and accumulated knowledge. Yet for many people, ageing does not bring respect and security but greater isolation and loneliness, ageist discrimination and even abuse. 64 percent of older Australians say they have been affected by ageism in the last five years. Nearly 50 percent of people over 65 have a disability that affects their ability to perform everyday tasks, yet they generally are ineligible for support under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Victoria's 50,000 aged-care residents too often live in utter neglect. The largest aged-care providers receive billions in subsidies, yet two-thirds of residents are at risk of malnutrition.

What we think

1. Older people are not a burden; they are owed a debt of gratitude for their contribution to society.
2. Older people have the right to determine how they live, where they live and what support they receive. Their autonomy and independence must be actively supported, not managed by systems designed for administrative convenience.
3. Working-class retirees have spent their lives creating wealth for employers and the state. The taxes and levies collected on the back of that labour must be directed to ensuring their needs are fully met in older age, not to subsidising the profits of private aged-care corporations.
4. The privatisation of aged care has been a disaster. Residential aged-care facilities must exist to provide the highest standard of care for residents, not to generate a profit for shareholders.
5. Ageism is a form of discrimination that is pervasive, largely unchallenged and has direct consequences for older people’s health, employment and social participation. It must be named and actively countered.

We’ll fight to

Aged Care

1. Expand public, community-based aged-care facilities.
2. Ban for-profit aged care.
3. Implement the outstanding recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in full, and introduce criminal penalties for negligent owners and managers of aged care facilities.
4. Legislate aged-care staffing ratios across all aged-care services, going beyond the federal government’s mandatory care minutes to include a mandate that registered nurses be on site 24/7.

Home care and support

1. Provide free, high-quality and well-maintained assistive technologies.
2. Provide state-funded home care services, including nursing, domestic assistance and social support, for older Victorians whose needs aren’t met by the federal Support at Home program, and advocate for the federal government to fully fund Support at Home so no older person goes without adequate in-home care.

Housing

1. Establish a public housing guarantee for pensioners so that anyone who needs secure housing can access it in their local neighbourhood.

Income and financial support

1. Advocate for a reduction in the pension age to 57, and in the meantime extend Victorian concession entitlements to all Victorians aged 60 and over.
2. Increase the pensioner concession on electricity bills from the current rate to 50 percent.

Health

1. Provide free dental care for pensioners alongside all Victorians.
2. Significantly increase funding for public geriatric health services and dementia research.

Participation and inclusion

1. Provide free public transport for pensioners, consistent with the commitment to make all public transport free across Victoria.
2. Provide support and training for older people who want to return to work or education.
3. Establish free digital literacy programmes for seniors across Victoria, with delivery through libraries, community centres and local councils.