industry & reform
Without fear or favour
Aged care advocate steps up to run in the federal election .
Sarah Russell interviewed by Eleanor Campbell
One of the aged care sector ’ s most outspoken advocates is entering the race to replace Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt in the seat of Flinders during the upcoming election . Director of Aged Care Matters and public health researcher , Dr Sarah Russell , has spent five years advocating for systemic change in the aged care sector .
The long-time activist said one of her primary aims is to embed the voices and interests of the community , including older Australians , into political policies and change .
“ We need our aged care minister and our aged care services minister to go into aged care homes and see what is going on ,” Russell said .
“ We need to fix these fundamental , systemic problems that are causing older people in aged care homes to experience neglect , abuse , medication errors , trauma – and that ’ s what I ’ ll be advocating for .”
Russell spoke to Aged Care Insite about her plans for the upcoming election .
ACI : What ’ s motivated you to take on politics ? SR : I ’ ve stepped into politics because I think it ’ s time for people who really care about our country [ to be heard ], and not just aged care but climate action , corruption in politics , gender issues , mental health , the whole range of issues that I care deeply about .
When the Voices movement started on the Mornington Peninsula last February
I joined almost immediately . I was there for their first meeting . I ’ m very committed to the Voices methodology , where you really consult with the community .
My aged care advocacy is based on consulting with older people , family and staff , because I think that they often miss out on having a voice in the debate . But if you look at my whole career , this has been my career as a public health researcher . I have always done consumer perspective research . So this is all just consistent with my career .
The Voices movement fit very well with me and I was very excited to think that I could contribute by doing what they call kitchen table conversations , which is basically just listening to people while sitting around the table . There ’ s some really good data that comes from people just talking about what they care about in their electorate .
12 agedcareinsite . com . au