Strategic Plan 2021-25

Strategic Plan 2021-25

Download COTA Australia Strategic Plan 2021-25

COTA Australia is the leading national policy development, advocacy and representation organisation seeking to achieve an equitable, just and inclusive society for Australia’s over 8 million older Australians over 50 years.

Throughout its 60+ year history a key part of COTA Australia’s success has been its strong working relationship with its national, state and individual members (especially State and Territory COTAs), and industry stakeholders. As we turn the next page in COTA’s history to once again expand our membership beyond the COTAs, it’s important to remember the successful achievements of COTA Australia and of the COTAs collectively across the country.

Strategic Priorities

Our Strategic Priorities and Objectives provide a long-term focus over the life of the Plan. They are consolidated around four key themes.

Equity and Respect

Building up respect for being an older Australian is the first step in tackling systemic and institutional inequity. We want a society where older Australians are valued for the contribution they make to the community and our country; and have equitable outcomes. We also want to challenge the broader issue of ageism and its negative impacts by reframing the images of ageing and promoting a better understanding and experience of ageing in Australia.

Engagement

Older Australians are diverse and have very diverse views. We want to engage and partner with the broadest range of older Australians to amplify their voices. We have a key role to play in building the capacity, knowledge and skills of older Australians in how to engage in and influence national debates on issues that impact them.

Advocacy

COTA Australia is a leader in the sector and plays an influential role in policy and advocacy to Government, business, civil society and the media. We want to build on our reputation to cement COTA Australia as the ‘go to’ agency for government policy input and use COTA Australia’s growing supporter base to encourage best practice behaviour towards older Australians by corporate Australia.

Our research and policy development strength has benefited all older Australians. However, we have always focused especially on the impacts for and engagement of older Australians who may be more vulnerable and disadvantaged for one or more reasons that causes societal barriers, including to advocating for themselves. We will continue this focus.

Sustainability

Our organisation has a long history of making a difference for and advocating on behalf of older Australians. We need to make sure that we can continue to undertake this important work by building systems, processes and structures to expand our financial capacity and base so we can ensure sustainability and maximise our impact.

Our Vision, Mission & Values

Read our Vision, Mission and Values here.

Priority Arenas

COTA Australia’s Strategic Priorities intersect with Priority Arenas in the development of our Annual Plan. The Priority Arenas highlight the specific policy areas where older Australians believe we can make a difference. We engage with older Australians and through mechanisms such as our National Policy Council and other policy networks in a way that is responsive to the issues of the day.

We will particularly prioritise our work in the following arenas (in no indication of priority order):

  • Housing (affordable, safe and appropriate, security of tenure, cost of living)
  • Aged Care reform (consumer choice and control, transforming aged care, increased home care, dementia friendly communities)
  • Digital divide (removing financial and operational barriers, enabling digital literacy, promoting inclusive strategies)
  • Elder Abuse (proactive safety measures, legal framework)
  • Retirement Incomes (optimising retirement incomes, ensuring strong and inclusive social security safety nets)
  • Participation (mature age employment, volunteerism)
  • Health (primary, mental, dental, allied and other health sectors, removing barriers to access)
  • Social isolation (supporting and enabling social connection, age friendly communities).