Innovation in Ageing Challenge

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:28): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update the council on how South Australians are exploring projects for better ageing?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:28): I thank the honourable member for her question. Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending the Creating Better Neighbourhoods Innovation in Ageing Challenge pitch. The challenge was run by the Australian Centre for Social Innovation in partnership with the Office for the Ageing and reflects the Office for the Ageing's new approach to allocating grant funding.

In place of traditional grant processes, the Office for the Ageing has been applying a model through open challenges. The pitches for this challenge were given on the day. This approach has proven successful in bringing together a broad spectrum of the community to find better outcomes for older South Australians, engaging government and non-government organisations, the community, aspiring entrepreneurs and older South Australians themselves.

In my discussions with participants at the event, they were able to highlight linkages that they had made through the pitch event, whereby quite disparate organisations, having heard each other's pitches, could see the possible opportunities for collaboration. In 2016 and 2018, the Office for the Ageing held what they called a State-wide Conversation with Older South Australians; a dialogue which identified important factors for ageing well. These included: a sense of community, safety and security, opportunities to make a contribution and the need for strong connections across generations to build trust and challenge ageism.

It is interesting to note that three out of those four elements are, if you like, communitarian values. They are not individualistic values. In other words, the ageing community cannot achieve those goals without engaging the broader community. It was quite logical, therefore, when the Office for the Ageing developed a challenge based on that dialogue that it wasn't actually a challenge focused on older people. It was a challenge focused on building better neighbourhoods.

On the day, there were 14 applicants who made their pitch in relation to that challenge. They were quality pitches and they showed how they would create the connected communities that would benefit everyone. It was my pleasure to be there and announce the successful applicants. I won't take the time of the council to explain all 14 projects but let me highlight those that were successful and received grants: $100,000 has been allocated over 12 months to help the ideas chosen with mentoring for the project teams and project guidance towards making them sustainable into the future.

The four pitches that won over the judges were: the Australian Association for Environmental Education, the Test Kitchen, Art Engineers and the Unity Project. The Australian Association for Environmental Education SA Chapter will use its $25,000 grant for a project called Bringing Back the Butterflies, a project to encourage people to add native butterfly-attracting plants to their front gardens and verges, and signposting will be used to entice passers-by to stop and chat with householders.

The Test Kitchen will use a $65,000 grant to extend its existing lifestyle village social dining program into suburban neighbourhoods, encouraging a village vibe and reducing social isolation. Art Engineers will use its $10,000 grant for a project called Art Around the Table, which will use its mobile art studio, the Art Bus, to inspire neighbours to gather for art workshops in front gardens and garages. The Unity Project promotes increased interactions between neighbours by connecting those with similar interests, and that project has been offered ongoing mentoring.

As I said, it was my privilege to be part of that event and part of the ongoing conversation with older South Australians about improving wellbeing. Sometimes what people need most is not the next grand plan to transform their health but a community that is willing to engage. I commend the program to the council.