Overview

Older & Bolder with the support of older people around the country campaigned for six years for the publication of a National Positive Ageing Strategy.  This campaign was sustained through two Programmes for Government and over the tenure of three Ministers for Older People. This document charts the six years of action taken by older people with Older & Bolder. 

On the 24th March 2013, the day before our closing conference, Minister Lynch announced the publication of the National Positive Ageing Strategy. 

Older & Bolder welcomed the holistic view of ageing that the strategy embraces, the recognition for the need for a whole-of-government response and specific health-related commitments that speak to our Make Home Work campaign. 

However, by the strategy’s own terms, much of the heavy lifting of turning positive aspirations into concrete actions will happen in the six months between March 2013 and October 2013; the timeframe given by the Minister for the creation of the high level implementation plan. 

• Older & Bolder’s advice to older people is to sustain pressure on Government and on their local public representatives for the urgent publication of this implementation plan.
• Beyond 2013, older people can help ensure that the National Positive Ageing Strategy acts as a catalyst for positive change. The strategy and its named concrete actions will be an important reference point, helping to gauge current and future Government’s implementation of the strategy and decision making in relation to ageing issues. 

The report from our consultation with older people on the strategy and our submission on the strategy will prove useful for those seeking to ensure that the implementation plan is ambitious and effective and for those monitoring the implementation of the strategy over the years to come.