{"id":296884,"date":"2025-11-20T11:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/296884\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:03:13","slug":"awareness-training-to-tackle-discrimination-against-older-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/296884\/","title":{"rendered":"Awareness training to tackle discrimination against older Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 16 per cent of Australians are over 65, but that figure is projected to grow beyond 20 per cent by the mid-century<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The federal government is locked in a funding battle with the states and territories<\/a> over who pays for an increasing number of frail and vulnerable patients in the hospital system. The ABC reported this week that state health ministers were angered by a letter sent by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in September, demanding they rein in hospital spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting old sucks, but it is actually possible to have a positive experience in ageing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald<\/p>\n

In NSW, taxpayers are spending an estimated $1.2 million a day on hospital patients awaiting discharge to aged and disability care<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald said he was concerned the debate was focused on the burden of \u201cbed block\u201d on taxpayers and waiting times, not on the needs of older Australians: \u201cDid it become a big issue because it was affecting older people? I suspect not. It\u2019s become a big issue because they\u2019re blocking beds for the general population.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former productivity and child abuse royal commissioner said there was a risk decisions about older patients were being made based on resource \u201crationing\u201d rather than their individual needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is highly problematic, and we could fast reach that point as the pressures in the healthcare system grow,\u201d he said. \u201cGetting old sucks, but it is actually possible to have a positive experience in ageing \u2026 you can\u2019t have that if you feel diminished and unworthy of that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Australia\u2019s<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald says ageism is endemic in many corners of the country\u2019s health system. Credit: Steven Siewert<\/p>\n

Coralie Wales, a public health expert working in western Sydney, watched her mother, Bonnie Jean Tosswill, become increasingly frail over the decade until her death in June at 94.<\/p>\n

Tosswill \u2013 a prolific artist and painter \u2013 grew depressed as she progressively relinquished the activities that helped define her, and felt health professionals cut her out of decisions about her care.<\/p>\n

\u201cMum used to say to me, \u2018Why do they talk to you and not me? I\u2019m still here. I\u2019ve still got ears, I\u2019ve still got a brain\u2019,\u201d Wales said. \u201cIf people had been treating her as a fully sentient, listening, intelligent woman much earlier, and offering her the preventative stuff in a way that she could accept it, then she wouldn\u2019t have had to die \u2026 in misery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

Australian Medical Association president Dr Danielle McMullen said the report shed light on the challenges older Australians faced from GP clinics to hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person\u2019s age is only one piece of the puzzle. High-quality patient-centred care requires looking at all the factors relating to someone\u2019s health, not just their chronological age,\u201d she said. \u201cSadly, system pressures in public hospitals and aged care are making it harder for older people to access timely, appropriate care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Human Rights Commission will next week begin holding age awareness workshops for health professionals, funded by the federal health department.<\/p>\n

A 2023 analysis found that, after one 2\u00bd-hour workshop, nine in 10 participants said they had rethought how they communicate with older adults, and 82 per cent reconsidered their attitudes towards ageing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re optimistic that the same pattern will emerge [with health workers],\u201d Fitzgerald said.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About 16 per cent of Australians are over 65, but that figure is projected to grow beyond 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-296884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}