The NSW Government’s Office for Ageing will relocate from Sydney to the Tweed Heads area on the Far North Coast, creating around 10 new jobs and pumping up to $1 million into the local economy.
NSW Minister for Ageing, Kristina Keneally, will today announce the move while in the Tweed for the inaugural Ministerial Conference on Ageing at Kingscliff, hosted by the Australian Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliott.
“The Office for Ageing (OFA) provides strategic advice to the NSW Government on population ageing and the needs of older people in the community - it makes sense that this Office and its experts be located in an area with a high and growing number of older people,” Ms Keneally said.
“When established in the Tweed in around six months, the OFA will continue its good work on planning for population ageing and mature workforce retention, and addressing issues facing older people including social exclusion, abuse of older people, dementia and disability.
“This relocation demonstrates the NSW Government’s strong commitment to addressing the needs of older people and planning for population ageing issues, and acknowledges the impact of the ageing population in the Far North Coast area of NSW”.
“It will be ‘business as usual’ for the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Ageing (MACA), which will continue its role in advising the Minister on ageing related issues and trends.”
Ms Keneally said that by 2030, the proportion of people aged 65 years and over will have almost doubled, and in just a decade the number of people aged 65 years and over will outnumber those under 14 years.
“Community engagement is fundamental to good policy making and I want to ensure older people are consulted, their opinions valued and local issues are addressed as we continue to plan for our ageing population in NSW,” Ms Keneally said.
“As emerging and complex issues arise, local experts at the ‘grass roots’ level will be given the opportunity to have a greater say in problem solving and policy development.”
The OFA is part of the part of the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care. Today’s announcement follows the launch of Towards 2030: Planning for our changing population in April 2008 – the NSW Government’s strategy to actively plan for demographic change.