The City of Unley, South Australia, has had a hit with the introduction of an age friendly discount for casual entry to the Unley Swimming Centre for patrons aged 70 years and over in celebration of the community living longer and healthier.
In total 2,929 patrons have taken advantage of the discount.
Mayor, Michael Hewitson, explained how the age friendly discount complemented the City of Unley’s status as an age friendly city.
“Our aim is to celebrate healthy ageing and extend a quality of life agenda to all people in our community.
“This new fee structure aims to ensure that we continue to think of ways to meet the needs of all our citizens.”
Unley Swimming Centre Manager, Nathan Byles, said the fee structure is the first of its kind in South Australia and aligns with the City of Unley’s leadership in active ageing.
“This discount strategy has become a major talking point amongst neighbouring councils and facilities, whom we feel certain will replicate it by making fee structure changes in coming seasons.”
The Age Friendly discount aligns to the Focus Area Respect and Social Inclusion in the City of Unley’s Active Ageing Strategy. It provides an incentive for an increase in casual entries from this age demographic, generating increased income for the Swimming Centre and exposing more users to the Centre’s other services.
Concession rates currently exist for students, health care card and pension cardholders; however, patrons aged 70 years and above under this new fee schedule would qualify for further discount. The discounts are taken off the regular casual adult entry rate on a sliding scale based on the patrons age (70 percent discount, 80 percent discount and 90 percent discount).
