The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has released the results of a new survey on ageing which found a high level of awareness among Councils of ageing and the impacts it will have on their municipalities. An initiative of the Australian Local Government Population Ageing Action Plan, the survey reveals that 93 per cent of Councils believe that population ageing will have an impact on their community with 28 per cent identifying the impact as severe.
Already, some Councils have already developed, or are considering developing, local strategies to support their ageing communities.
ALGA President, Paul Bell, said it is critical to build the capacity of Local Government to plan for an ageing population.
“The way forward must include better resourcing for Local Government across the board,” he said. “We also need a Local Government ageing in place program and development of targeted ageing initiatives, particularly around the built environment and healthy ageing. We appreciate the strong working relationship we have with the Australian Government on ageing issues and look forward to building on that partnership to help us address the challenges that lie ahead.”
The survey is available at www.alga.asn.au/policy/social/ageing/survey/.
