When the Government’s Jobs Summit happens in September, eliminating ageism should be central to the agenda. Australia cannot afford to keep wasting so much talent and opportunity.
The grief of family and friends is turning to anger when some commentators infer these deaths matter less because residents were already palliative, or on the other hand try to exploit the tragedy for political point scoring.
While certain aged-care providers will doubtlessly be found guilty of terrible failures, the system that allowed them to let older Australians die due to neglect of standards must also be addressed. It now needs to radically and fundamentally change.
COTA CE Ian Yates wrote an opinion piece for The Age in advance of the release of the 2015 Intergenerational Report calling for people to 'rethink Australia's ageing population in the context of respect, opportunity and productivity'