Slow progress for ageing in NSW state budget

Council on the Ageing (COTA) NSW welcomed the NSW government’s announcement of an Ageing Summit and the development of an Ageing Strategy in the 2007-08 NSW state budget. However, “the lack of a clear cross-government approach and funding commitment to ageing in 2007-8 is both a concern and a disappointment,” says executive director Bill Byrnes.

COTA (NSW) welcomed the increase of $38.7m or 8.1% for Home & Community Care (HACC) funding, but said it was a long way short of the 20% increase recommended by COTA (NSW) in its pre-budget submission in a bid to catch up on previous deficits and to keep up with the CPI (consumer price index).

Some areas received generous boosts, including disability and mental health , a 7.1% increase in spending for the Home Care Service and a commitment of capital expenditure to improve day facilities for people with dementia.

“The state’s population is ageing and ageing quickly. By 2025 one in four people in NSW will be over the age of 65. This has huge implications for the state’s long term prosperity,” says Mr Byrnes.

“We hope that the upcoming Ageing Summit and subsequent Ageing Strategy will mark the beginning of a series of steps looking at how we can all work together to address the present and future needs of the state’s ageing population.”