Mature-Age Persons' Rights

Ms COOK (Fisher) (14:36): My question is to the Minister for Ageing. Could the minister explain to the house what the government is doing to ensure that older South Australians know about their rights?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for the question and for her interest in promoting the rights of older South Australians. I am pleased to be able to provide new information to the house about this policy area.

The recognition of the rights of older people is a critical issue for the state government and an important priority for me in my capacity as Minister for Ageing. Earlier this year I was privileged to launch 'Knowing your rights: a guide to the rights of older South Australians', a state government initiative funded through the Office for the Ageing. The publication was developed through a partnership, and utilises the combined intellect and expertise of several agencies, including the Legal Services Commission of South Australia, the Council on the Ageing, South Australia Police and the Office for the Ageing.

While all the information contained in Knowing Your Rights is important, there is one particular area I would like to focus on, that is, that older people have the right to participate in the economic life of our community and continue to work if that is their wish. It is against the law to treat people unfairly because of their age in different areas of public life, including work, education and customer service. This is particularly important for economic participation, when an increasing number of older people want and need to work well past a traditional retirement age.

Some older people want to start businesses in their own right and become senior entrepreneurs, supporting economic growth and jobs creation. Others want to continue to contribute through volunteering and mentoring. Age should be no barrier to a person wishing to make such valued contributions to our community.

Knowing Your Rights is a useful resource which can be used by older persons to confidently remain in control of their life choices and decisions as they age. I would highly recommend it to families, carers, service providers and all MPs to support any older people they know—and as MPs we often have older members of our community coming in to ask for our support. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank and commend the partners involved in the development of this important resource, and their efforts to strengthen the visibility of older people, their rights and our respect for them.

This document has been particularly well received. As I am also the Minister for Multicultural Affairs and the Minister for Volunteers, I have had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with our older communities, and because of that we will now be translating this document into Italian.

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I am very fortunate—I think the member for Hartley spends time on Italian radio engaging with our Italian community—as just last week, during National Volunteer Week, I got to attend—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: They might be on my next list. I appreciate that the Polish community is also active, particularly in my electorate, I might add, in the area of Salisbury. I was reminded at the CO.AS.IT Awards, which His Excellency the Governor also attended, social inclusion is important and also—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Sorry, the member for Adelaide as well. In fact, I was very disappointed that the member for Adelaide did not get up on the dance floor and nor did the member for Hartley, although there was much encouragement. When we think about our communities, as they age we know that many people go back to their birth language, and this is a challenge for our aged care sector.

But the biggest challenge is social isolation. So, knowing your rights in your language, knowing your rights across the South Australian state, what is available for you, we want to be inclusive. In this triumph of civilisation, as you age your rights continue to be as valued and important at whatever age you are.