Access to aged care emerged as a major issue of concern for local senior citizens at a public forum at Glen Alpine on Saturday.
But local senior citizens who attended MP Greg Warren’s forum also wanted to know what had happened to Neighbourhood Watch and why they had to pay high insurance premiums even though they lived in areas with low rates of crime.
They also wanted better public transport and were worried about cost of living issues such as the price of power.
A large number of local senior citizens attended the forum, where a panel of speakers offered insights to a variety of services for the aged.
All made the point that there was plenty of help out there, but you had to know where to look.
Mr Warren, who was very happy with the substantial turnout, said as far as he could find out it had been the first time such a forum had been held.
“It’s important that we politicians started listening to what people like our seniors are saying.
“Seniors are key contributors to our community and 18 percent of Campbelltown’s population are seniors,’’ he said.
Mr Warren’s State colleague, MP Anoulack Chanthivong also attended the forum, as did the Federal Member for Macarthur Dr Mike Freelander, who contributed a pensioners and seniors information kit in a package given to everyone who attended.
He told the forum that since he was elected last July 2016 he had been inundated with calls for assistance for old people.
“They ask for help on health care, advice about My Aged Care services and so on.” Dr Freelander said.
“There is no doubt that we have an ageing population and we need to pay a lot of attention to their concerns.”
Representatives from the Macarthur Diversity Services Initiative, Campbelltown Police, Campbelltown Senior Cyber Seekers and National Seniors Australia also spoke at the forum.
Each speaker was followed by a Q&A.
Senior Constable Michelle Willis, the Campbelltown Local Ara Command crime prevention officer was asked if Neighbourhood Watch was still active.
She said that it was but it was no longer as prevalent as it was when first introduced in the 1980s.
Mr Warren said he would look into it to see if it would be easy for people to set up a Neighbourhood Watch.
Brian Kearney, from the Campbelltown Senior Cyber Seekers Inc, urged those present to ensure their computer and internet skills were up to date in this fast paced and changing world.
Another speaker, John Cooper, representing National Seniors Australia, praised the role of seniors in Australia.
“We’re a huge group these days,’’ Mr Cooper said.
“There are more than 3.5 million Australians over the age of 65 and we’re all very important to this country.’’
He said that in addition to advocacy for seniors, National Seniors Australia also helped older people find paid work.
“We have 300,000 members, which makes us the biggest in the country,’’ he said.
Most of us who are now aged did not prepare for the current conditions of the My Aged Care Act.
When I moved into my retirement village all I had to worry about was to pay the cost of my villa and when I needed care I would just move to the hostel and then the hospital.
Now under the new Government Aged Care Act I must find anywhere from $290000 to $500000 just to get a bed in a hostel and most of us have not planned for this and I know from friends that there are always many women waiting in Camden hospital for a bed in a care hostel and based on the aged groups in Campbelltown it is going to get a lot more stressful as all those people that came to the area in the 70-80’s move into care. The Aged Care Act is very hard to follow for us oldies