Fix Private Health Insurance for Older Australians – Add your voice and SIGN PETITION HERE
Older Australians continue to be vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19 and it remains critically important to protect yourself from the devastating impacts of COVID-19.
There is now compelling evidence that rapid access to oral antiviral medication can materially reduce the impact of COVID-19 on residents.
Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia hopes that throughout the election campaign the voices of Australia’s older people will be heard – both through political action and through media coverage.
The grief of family and friends is turning to anger when some commentators infer these deaths matter less because residents were already palliative, or on the other hand try to exploit the tragedy for political point scoring.
For those living in the parts of the country where check-ins and vaccine certificates are compulsory, you may have experienced the difficulties of accessing them, or the exclusion of not being able to do so. COTA Australia’s advocacy has had some effect on improving the situation.
Older Australians need a comprehensive plan from the Australian Government, demonstrating that all areas of Government are thinking and acting in a coordinated fashion to improve the lives of mature age and older Australians.
In the COVID-19 response Budget in October, we urge the Federal Government to prioritise the following areas:
Pensions and Income Support
Future Retirement Income Policy
Aged Care Reform
Employment of older Australians
Housing
A whole-of-Government approach to an Ageing Australia
Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia has today urged the Federal Government to provide an additional $750 stimulus payment to pensioners in consideration of the increased costs incurred due to COVID-19.
While certain aged-care providers will doubtlessly be found guilty of terrible failures, the system that allowed them to let older Australians die due to neglect of standards must also be addressed. It now needs to radically and fundamentally change.
COTA Australia Chief Executive, Ian Yates, said the lack of transparency around transmission of the disease within aged care facilities and the response of providers is a significant trust issue for the community.
COVID-19 has shone a light on reform issues at both the community/service delivery level and on a big picture level.
The extension of the JobKeeper scheme and the continued additional support for people on JobSeeker have been welcomed by Council on the Ageing (COTA) Australia as essential support for mature age workers thrown into unemployment or at risk of it due to COVID-19.