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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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 $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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Issues for Councils

17. 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