Dignity for Disability – Ageing policy launch
26/02/2014
Welcome – thanks for coming. I am very proud and excited to launch Dignity for Disability’s Ageing South Australians policy today.
The Dignity for Disability party is not just about achieving dignity for people with disabilities – despite our namesake we’re actually here to make sure that all South Australians can live with dignity. We know the key to making this happen is understanding that people are the experts on themselves, and while they might need help and support to achieve their goals – they should still be allowed to set those goals and choose the path they take to achieving them.
This core idea of self-determination underlies our policy for ageing South Australians.
The policy has three main action points and addresses the major challenges currently faced by older Australians – important issues like community engagement and freedom from harm – without making people choose between these basic rights and their autonomy.
The first section of our policy is a plan to introduce new legislation to Parliament modelled on Scotland’s Adult Support and Protection Act of 2007.
The Scottish legislation is one of the world’s best examples of functional, rights-based elder care legislation. In Scotland we see laws that put the individual rights of older people first, and then looks for ways to prevent and provide protection from harm within that framework. This is crucially different from the current state and national laws in Australia that are well-meaning but paternalistic. Our existing laws ultimately disempower older people – putting clunky, invasive procedures and agencies in charge of their protection. Dignity for Disability will introduce legislation to change this.
Our second major ageing policy directive will be to support the growing number of South Australians diagnosed with dementia.
We support Alzheimer’s Australia’s calls to create dementia-friendly communities and will be lobbying the State Government and to fund broad education programs that teach people in the community to communicate with people with dementia. This is a crucial step so that people with the disease do not end up isolated and marginalised.
While calling for public education we will also push for funding to establish specialist dementia care facilities. Most of the current housing options for people no longer able to live independently don’t have the specialist knowledge, care and resources needed to properly enrich the lives of people with dementia. Instead, we need to set-up dementia-focussed facilities with properly trained, expert staff. We also need to make sure there are some facilities with specialist capacity to cater for people with younger-onset dementia because these people sadly often end up in inadequate facilities with little to engage or stimulate them.
Finally – the third part of our policy is to insist that the needs of ageing people are incorporated into all Government policy. Older South Australians are just like everybody else – they have diverse needs, interests and goals. Whether formulating policy on transport, housing or city activation the Government should consider how to support and encourage the participation of older citizens.
Those are the major policy points we will be pushing as we head towards this election, and we know these are the actions that will make South Australia a better, more engaging state in which to grow old.
