Secret research Public dissatisfaction with government action on

A survey of community attitudes towards ageing and older people shows that fewer than three in ten voters think the federal government is doing enough to support its ageing population. This represents an increase in dissatisfaction of five percent since a similar survey in 2003.

The survey was released under a Freedom of Information application by the National Health Services Union.

The study found there was a lack of awareness about what the commonwealth had done in the area of ageing. In the area of superannuation , those surveyed said improvements were too little, too late and would not result in self-sufficiency for many years.

The belief that the government was not doing enough for ageing was made in the context of a belief that the government had a massive surplus thanks to GST and the mining boom. This gave the government the means to take action but was not using it which ‘surprises and dismays people’ according to the report.