Council Involvement with Senior Citizens Centres & Seniors Clubs Report on 2013 Survey of Victorian Councils March 2013 Jan Bruce Positive Ageing Policy Adviser

Elderly Citizens Centres Long history Older Persons Welfare Council (now COTA) actively involved State government subsidies post WWII Councils had management responsibility for subsidised clubs Benevolent role of clubs: 1982 – name changed to Senior Citizens Club 1985 – moved to HACC program Benevolent role included: assistance and relief recreation social companionship entertainment, daily accommodation and care; and provision of meals “Club activities include social amenities, entertainments, outings, libraries, meal services at the club and on wheels, foot clinics, sick visiting and hairdressing” “Most open daily from about 10am to 5pm and on one or two evenings a week for special entertainments.” Department of Health, Letter to councils from B.G. Yeoman, 1961

History of Senior Citizens Club Numbers 1947 – 1 centre in Fitzroy 1948 – South Melbourne Council first to establish a centre 1970 – 182 centres – 30,000+ members 1985 – 376 centres – 56,000+ members 1986 – 379 centres – 57,000+ members 2012 – 288 centres – 55,000+ members Plus in 2012 an additional: 68,000 members of ethno specific groups & 65,000 people as members of other seniors groups 1947 – clubs began – the first for men at the Brotherhood of St. Laurence 1948 – South Melbourne Council the first to develop facilities and provide meals 1950’s – Older People’s Welfare Council (now COTA) encouraged centre development and played a major role in setting up centres and clubs working with local older people 1955 – state government subsidy provided to councils 1961 – 57 councils had applied for state funding in metro and rural areas 1976 – 1985 senior citizens centres become the responsibility with Health Department 1985 responsibility transferred to Community Services Victoria at the same time as HACC Agreement signed Next slide – The MAV Survey

MAV Survey 75 councils responded (95% response rate) Range of information sought Number of buildings Number and type of seniors clubs Reviews, research, evaluations undertaken Membership numbers of seniors clubs Support provided by councils to clubs Provision of meals to clubs The issues facing councils around seniors facilities and clubs Fantastic response from councils Reflects the importance of issues to councils around seniors centres and clubs Collected some base data Doesn’t provide all the answers but assists in understanding the issues at a state-wide level Hope that the data will prove interesting and assist in addressing some of the issues Next slide – the data

Buildings Used by Seniors Clubs   Total Metro Councils Rural & Regional City Councils No. % Dedicated Senior Citizens buildings owned by council 288 45% 137 38% 151 55% Other council owned facilities used by seniors groups 347 221 62% 126 100%  Total Council owned buildings 635 58% 358 52% 277 69% Buildings not owned by council but used by seniors groups 451 42% 327 48% 124 31% Totals 1,086 683 401 288 council owned senior citizens buildings identified across the state – probably add a few more for the 4 councils that did not respond Substantial capital investment in building infrastructure to support seniors activities @ $150,000 per seniors citizens building it equates to over $43M in infrastructure investment Higher number (347) of ‘other’ council owned buildings used for seniors group activities Even higher number (451) of building owned by other agencies used for seniors activities Rural councils have higher percentage of their buildings used for seniors activities which are dedicated seniors citizens centres (55%) compared to (38%) in the metro area Higher number of ‘other council owned facilities’ used in metro areas Council facilities critical to support the activities of seniors groups across the state Does the high number of facilities not owned by council but used for seniors activities reflect an inability for councils to meet the demand? Total of 1086 buildings used for seniors activities across the state Demand is increasing for facilities as new seniors groups develop – U3A, Probus, Life Activity Groups, Men’s Sheds Next slide – seniors clubs

Estimated Number of clubs Seniors Clubs   Estimated Number of clubs % of seniors clubs Metro Rural Senior Citizens clubs 852 35% 639 (33%) 213 (38%) Ethno specific Seniors clubs 735 30% 713 (38%) 22 (4%) Other clubs 859* 538 (29%) 321 (58%) Estimated Total 2446 100% 1890 (77%) 556 (23%) All but one council has at least one senior citizens club 6 councils have just one club 2 metro councils have 80 clubs 57 of 75 councils have an ethno specific club or clubs There are more ‘other clubs’ than senior citizens and ethno specific groups Issues Recognising the importance of all types of group activities Accommodating seniors group activities into the future Developing ethno-specific activities in rural Victoria Next slide – Club Membership numbers

Estimates for Victoria Club Membership   Estimates for Victoria Estimates – Metro Estimates -Rural Senior citizens clubs 55,700 42,200 (27%) 13,500 (46%) Ethno specific seniors clubs 68,000 66,800 (42%) 1,200 (4%) Other** 65,000* 50,000 (31%) 14,700 (50%) Total 188,700** 159,000 (100%) 29,400 (100%) Want to stress that these figures are estimates Around 190,000 older people members of clubs Interestingly, 210,000 play basketball in Victoria In 1986 seniors citizen club membership was estimated at 57,750 Across all types of seniors clubs, membership has nearly doubled since 1986 More older people in ethno-specific groups and ‘other’ seniors groups than Senior Citizens Clubs ‘Other’ groups are the interesting in number as U3A, Probus, Life Activity Groups, Men’s Sheds grow and develop across the state Next slide – comparisons of membership to population

Older people and seniors club membership   Total Metro Rural Over 60’s population (ABS Census 2011) 1,055,000 728,500 326,800 Location of over 60’s in Victoria 69% 31% Estimated % of over 60’s as seniors citizen club member 5%  6% 4% % of over 60’s as ethno-specific seniors club members 9% 0.4% % of all other seniors club members 7% 5% % of over 60’s as members of some type of senior's club 18% 22% 69% of the over 60’s live in metropolitan Melbourne The number of members of seniors groups equates to 22% of the over 60’s population There are very know numbers of ethno-specific groups in rural Victoria (0.4% of the over 60’s rural population) Ethno specific seniors groups have the highest proportion of over 60’s membership (9%) Next Slide – Support provided by councils to seniors clubs

Council support provided to seniors groups This and next slide look at support to clubs provided by councils Features of the data: Councils provide significant support to seniors groups across the state Grants and rent subsidies provided by most councils More metro councils regularly bring clubs together – maybe reflecting geographic limitations Support from a full-time staff member – more likely in metro

Support provided by councils Features of the data: Rental assistance to use non council facilities Provision of meals to clubs Assistance with management and reporting Support from a part-time staff member Next slide – meal provision

Number of Councils (n=35) Provision of Meals Frequency of Group Meal Provision Number of Councils (n=35) daily 7 about once per week 25 about once a fortnight 4 about once per month 12 special occasions 10 rarely 35 councils indicated they provided some meals to seniors clubs Meals remain important and an issue Great variation in the frequency of meal provision but once per week is the most common Next slide Which groups receive these meals

Provision of Meals Next slide – Reviews undertaken by councils Weekly meal provision is predominantly to senior citizens clubs Few councils provide meals to ethno specific clubs Need to keep in mind that some ethno specific clubs provide their own meals Next slide – Reviews undertaken by councils

Council review of seniors clubs and centre issues Number of councils % Utilisation and management of seniors clubs 35 64% Increasing recreation and social opportunities for a more diverse membership 29 53% Meeting regulations and legislative requirements around food handling 24 44% Meeting regulations and legislative requirements in relation to disability access 26 47% More equitable use of council resources to support seniors groups Many councils have reviewed their seniors centres and clubs – There has been much activity in recent years yet the issues remain for many councils Utilisation and centres and management of clubs is the most common review issue (64%) 44% have review food handling issues 44% have reviewed the equity of resourcing of seniors groups Next will look at the important issues for councils around seniors centres and clubs

Issues for Councils Next slide – split for metro and rural If we look at the very important issues for councils we find: Finding people to take on club management roles Unable to attract new members so declining membership Sense of ownership limiting use of buildings by others Need for building to better respond to community needs Problems in being able to meet increasing demand for facilities from other seniors groups In many ways the issues have not changed from many years ago Confusion around the club entity and the building - often wrongly held belief that buildings are owned by clubs; A struggle to maintain interest in club membership The challenge to broaden club activities and focus so as to attract new members; The ’poor image’ of (the age segregated) clubs in the community and particularly with the new generation of older people; Poor communication from clubs to the community and the target group of older people about the activities on offer. Poor transport options affecting club viability Inadequate resourcing of clubs Inability of smaller councils to maintain facilities to a high standard Underutilisation of facilities when there is often great demand in communities for meeting and activity spaces Next slide – split for metro and rural

Issues for Councils Issues for councils differ across metro and rural councils A greater proportion of metro councils have problem: Finding people to take on management roles To attract new members And with increasing demand for facilities including increasing use of existing facilities Building better responding to community needs Would appear that rural councils might face many of the same issues but with smaller proportions of councils facing them

Issues for Councils

Strong interest in a forum to discuss the issue May 17th tentative date to get some councils together to discuss issues with each other and seniors groups Session to be held at the MAV