Australia’s oldest person turns 112

Australia’s oldest person, Mrs Emily Beatrice “Bea” Riley, has turned 112.

Mrs Riley was born on 13 October 1896 in the Gippsland dairy town of Poowong. Her husband, Alec died in 1986.

The France based International Database on Longevity’s Scientific Advisory Board has documented Mrs Riley as the world’s 30th oldest person.

She is also part of a select group known as a supercentarian – a person who reaches 110.

Another Victorian woman turns 112 in December, but Mrs Riley is Australia’s oldest documented person. (There are 76 known documented supercentarians in the world.)

Mrs Riley attended a small private birthday gathering at her Melbourne nursing home, and has received congratulations from the Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, and Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot.

There are 2,800 people aged over 100 and this number is expected to rise to more than 78,000 by 2055.

Centarians are the fastest growing demographic group in Australia.

They have grown by 8.5% a year for the last 25 years.