Minister for Ageing foreshadows planning changes for aged care development
Senator Santo Santoro, the Federal Minister for Ageing, has told ‘The Australian’ that he will encourage town planners to place nursing and retirement homes in the middle of residential areas, to enable older people to continue to live in their own communities as they age. He wants to strike agreements with local councils and state governments to improve town planning to enable development of nursing homes for local residents.
He wants other levels of government to agree to ‘co-location’ of aged care within existing communities to better cater for the demands of an ageing population.
Senator Santoro said that the community expected the Government to look at community care as its preferred option, providing practical assistance to people who were still living in their own homes. Then, when they were forced by circumstances to move into nursing homes, the facilities should be close to their homes.
