Presentation to MAV Age-Friendly Communities and Local Government NATIONAL CONFERENCE 29 and 30 October 2014 Sharyn Briggs and Carol Sinclair 1

Our presentation today About a project undertaken by Lane Cove Council to gain membership into the WHO Global AFCC Network How we created an all-of-Council response to ageing How we have harnessed older people as the drivers of age-friendly directions What has come out of the project Has it changed Council’s thinking? 2

What Did Lane Cove Do? Prepared a ‘Strategy for an Age-Friendly Lane Cove’ including:  A background review  An existing evidence base  A baseline assessment  A 3 year Council-wide plan of action The first AFC in NSW – in June

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Why Did We Do It? Ageing population only just above average for NSW Aim was to assist Council to respond to the challenges of an ageing population Also wanted to foster an environment that promotes active ageing and community engagement. 5

How Did We Do It? Used the WHO framework and bottom up approach Referred to the Vancouver Protocol Used the WHO checklists to assess the 8 domains of city life Rang everyone we could Took the best ideas from everywhere and value added Applied for membership as soon as we could 6

Consultation, consultation and more consultation 12 Focus groups – 2 with Service Providers/Access Committee 4 Forums – morning, afternoon and evening Survey – paper and online, 276 respondents Total of people providing input was “It depends where you live whether transport is good” “I’d hate to move away…” “I need to participate more” “Lifts are untrust- worthy so getting around is a nightmare”

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Promotion, promotion and even more promotion Seniors Newsletter Library NGO’s Council website Local monthly paper Regional newspaper Letters to community groups Attending activities and events Council e-newsletters 9

Information, information, and drowning in information Used the survey as the assessment tool Also asked for suggestions on how to improve age-friendliness Collated ‘good things’, not-so-good things’ and suggestions for improvements from all consultations Incorporated suggestions into a whole-of- Council Action Plan Developed the statistical rating. 10

So How Did Lane Cove Score? 11

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How Did We Get Buy-In? Membership is supported by Council BUT It needed to be recognised that:  Council is not responsible for everything  We already have many things covered in our CSP/Operational Plan  We have limited budgets and must serve the whole community, not just older people 13

14 Also emphasised:  Sometimes just a case of doing things slightly differently  It doesn’t necessarily mean a big bucket of money  There are lots of things that can be done in normal workloads Took responsibility off their shoulders Got the conversation about ageing going before we started Kept good communication across Council

Process July 2011 EOI to COTA Liveable Communities Project May 2012 COTA presentation to Councillors and staff Feb 2013 Budget for Ageing Strategy 15

Cont’d Oct 2013 Inspired by the AFCC Conference in Canberra! Ongoing Frequent conversation with other Council divisions Nov 2013 Gained Council support to follow the WHO path 16

How are Older People Continuing to Drive the Process? Asked participants if they wanted to be kept informed People requesting follow-up: 53% of participants Regular updates in Seniors Newsletter, on Council website and to the ‘keep informed’ list Community summary about to be widely distributed... 17

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19 Nominations for an Age- Friendly Advisory Committee called First meeting held on 23 October Seminars/talks on age- friendly topics planned throughout year Planning an Annual Age- Friendly Forum

What has come out of it? Increased general community awareness Increased whole of Council awareness A genuine appreciation by older people of what Council is doing for them Community pride in participating in a global movement A real feeling of older people being listened to, respected and having opinions valued Hopefully an increase in age friendliness by the next assessment! 20

Early days yet! Definitely raised awareness All parts of Council working toward achieving change Already flowing into work plans A new emphasis and approach to what Council is doing 21 Has it changed Council’s thinking?

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