industry & policy
Seize the grey
“I
A stalwart
campaigner
for the ageing
population
believes there is
much to be done.
Recognising
older Australians
as valuable
workers would
be a good start.
Everald Compton
interviewed by
Dallas Bastian
10 agedcareinsite.com.au
n turning grey into gold we are limited
only by our imagination, curiosity and
willingness to take risks to outflank the
greatest social challenge of all time.”
This was the call made by veteran campaigner for
elderly Australians Everald Compton in 2014 on the
topic of the rapid ageing of the population. Three
years on, Compton, who is chairman of the Longevity
Innovation Hub, says there is still much to do.
For its 100 th edition, Aged Care Insite catches
up with Compton to sound out his thoughts on
Australia’s progress in the ageing sphere and the key
issues that policymakers must prioritise to improve
the lives of older adults and make the most out of the
opportunities an ageing nation presents.
ACI: Is the ageing experience improving for older
Australians? Are we on the right track?
EC: Well, yes and no. There are many individuals,
older Australians who are planning their longevity
better than they ever did before. I think governments
are lagging behind quite considerably in facing all of
the issues involved in ageing, which go way beyond
aged care and cover almost every facet of life. I
see little evidence, except for one or two political
leaders, that governments have embraced the whole
issue of longevity, worked out what policies we
need to have, and how we’re going to pay for those
policies, and how we can restructure the economy
to cover the fact that more and more people retire
every year, that they live a lot longer than they ever
did before, and that there are fewer young people
arriving on the scene to replace them.
What progress has Australia has made when it
comes to ageing and how the process is viewed?
Well, for instance, with the age pension, which is a
matter of very considerable political controversy,
there are too many politicians and too many younger
Australians who believe that the amount that
pensioners would get every fortnight has to be cut
if Australia is going to survive, and that’s nonsense.
The pension is inadequate now and in fact needs to
be increased and to keep up with costs in the future.
Where the problem is, is in the volume of people
who are becoming old and who should be eligible
to receive the pension. The whole eligibility factor
needs to be looked at in a far more comprehensive
and reasonable way than it has been done before.
We need to look at the age pension and say, it