Population Ageing In Australia: Health And Public Policy Issues

Age Structure in Australia

The population of Australia has been increasing rapidly since the 20^th Century. It has grown to become 18.70 million from 3.70 million since then. The growth of the population went up at the time of world war II and the lowest was in the time of 1930’s (1). In the time of 20^th Centaury, two third of the population could be credited to the natural increment which was births as compared to deaths. Nevertheless, the fertility and the morality rates underwent the important changes and at the same time the other main factor which was net overseas migration got fluctuated wildly.

In the year 2017, there were approximately 4 million people who were of the age above 65 and this is approximately 15% of the total population in Australia. This git increased since 1927 from 3,20,000 to 1.2 million till 1977. Still the number of old age people is expected to grow till 2050. It is estimated that by the year 2050, there would be 8.9 million people who will be old aged and the percentage of the total older people would rise up to 22% of the total population and by the year 2097, it will go up to 13 million people which is 25% of the total population (2).  

As the population increases including the older people, the profile is also expected to change in the coming time. As already seen, 57% people were aged in between 65 – 74 years of age, one third people are of 75 – 84 years of age and then there are 13% of the people who are above 85 years of age (3).

Demographics: It is a well-known fact that women live longer as compared to men. It can be clearly seen in the life expectancy and most clearly in the older aged groups. In the year 2017, there were mostly women who aged 65 -74 which becomes approximately 51% of the total population in old aged people. This in the year 2018 rose up to become 63%. The ratio of women who were old aged was at peak in the year 1968 when the number of old aged women went up to 65 and over. This ratio is actually declining since that year (4).

The changing population profile of Australia took place between a number of the interacting changes happening in the family unit. Since  the year 1970, young children are dependent on their parents or their families, the couples actually delay marriages and also the rate of the people being married is decreased. The divorce rates are also fluctuating since a few years and sharing has always been predominant yet it is predicted to end in separation and also not predicted to end in marriages in past. Single people ratio in terms of living alone with no partners due to divorce and breakups from the connections are actually rising up. These rising up proportions of couples have few if there are any children in the family. Women also have their first kid born when they are mostly above 30 years of age (5).

Health and Policy Challenges in the Ageing Population

The patterns in working have also changed in a very dramatic manner in the last 10 years. Women are entering into the corporate world a lot these days though the trend has leveled up for the women who are aged 20 to 45. In the contradiction to that, the labor force involvement of men who age 50 or more are leveled out. In addition to that, the migrants had low labor force involvement rates for all type of age groups only excluding the 45 to 54 years of age and the people who were born out in other countries which were English speaking and had high employment rates. However, the government of Australia had put more focus on the targeting of young talented migrants with skills like language and good communication and also the labor market results of presently arrived migrants have also become better (6). 

The population which is ageing challenges the capability of the health services in order to maintain health and well-being and also to manage the  illness and gives support for the disabled.

Health Care costs: The population that is ageing is not the major issue when it comes to contributing in the health costs. The financial report  of the Treasury intergeneration  says that ageing population has only a very small expenditure. Nevertheless, the chronic diseases that are linked with the ageing pose medical and also the managerial challenges (7).

New Technology: The advanced technology also rises up the health care costs. The advances that are diagnostic like radiological scanners and biological therapeutics mostly keep on adding the costs in the health care. The more the usage of these things are, the more the costs are raised in the community.

Global Growth: The speedy spreading of the urban Australian people are also making the challenges for the healthy communities. The urbanization which is increasing day after day particularly when no attention is paid to the pedestrian amenities, food that is fresh, potential population etc. is linked with the high rates of being obese, asthmatic and depressed (8).

Inequality and Equity: Irrespective of the average life expectancy that is achieved in the present decades, gains in health is not equally shared all over the population of Australia. Women are the ones who always do better than men. They are well educated and their neighbors live always do better in their life. Indigenous Australians are the ones who live their life averagely since 20 years less than other Australians (9).

The reliability on the age pension is the major source of the income which is continued for some time now and will continue in the future as well and also the government clearly plans for the cost. This is to be noted that nevertheless, the Australians are yet to become completely demographically mature society and also it adds up a little for the overall costs of the population that is ageing (10).

There is another policy focus which is to enable the older people to work in communities. The retirement provisions could be revised and this would always enable the retired people to work in order to earn the benefits and also so that they can work on the paid basis with no penalizing. This will always refer to the harmonization of work with new income benefit.

Policy Responses to the Issues

The future of focusing on the ageing of Australia that is most likely to visit a mixture of additional public outlay, improved self-provision and augmented operator custodies. Questions about inter-generational equity will, nevertheless, endure (11).

The government of Australia has created a strategy nationally for the ageing of Australia for giving the coordinated answer to the issues that surrounds ageing population and ensures that the excellence of life for aged persons, synchronization between generation is maintained. The policy classifies wide-ranging zones of change and also the issues that are to be addressed. These include:

• The work force that is ageing and the requirement of action as the supply of young new applicants drops in a dramatic manner for the growth of the economy and competition in the global economy is continue to increase day after day(12).
• The requirement of the apt level of sustainable sources like retirement money for the support of the retirement living.
• The requirement for the assertive person and the public approaches for ageing.
• The requirement for age-friendly substructure & public backing (counting housing, conveyance and infrastructures), to permit better sums of elder Australians to contribute in & endure linked to civilization(13).
• The prominence of vigorous ageing to permit larger number of grownup public to continue being healthful & self-regulating.
• Developing requirement for manageable, suitable & high excellence health and aged care assistances.

• The Australian populace that is ageing is important factor which is to be addressed by the government, firms and the society on the whole.
• All the people of Australia  irrespective of the age must have the entrance to the employment, training, new learnings and information, conveyance, cultural chances and the care services which are apt to maintain their different needs for enabling them to optimize their quality of life for the entire time that they live.
• There should be more opportunities that exists in the nation for meeting up with the economy of Australia.
• There should be both public and private additions which are needed and the aspirations of the old aged Australia(14).
• The programs which are public should supplement instead of an supplant.
• There should be a strong knowledge policy replies to the ageing population.
• The delivery of the services and the annuities for the populace that’s is ageing should be reasonable for their whole life to live in the current economy and growth(15).

By having the funding of the Australian government particularly with the health care deportment of ageing & also the discussion of the local government connotations, the local government of Australia has created a local government population ageing action plan in the year 2004 to 2008. The major factors that involved were: to create the awareness, to motivate the local government action, to improve the information access and lastly to evaluate and monitor effectively (16).

In the year 2008 on July 15^th, the congress acted the Medicare improvement for the patients and providers act of 2008 which is also known as MIPPA in short.  It is a multi-faceted piece of the legislation that contains few significant provisions which can variate the Medicare program and owed federal funding for the state health insurance assistance programs. The involvement of the ADRC’s and the technical resource center that is run by the national council on ageing is also there for giving out the outreach to low income Medicare benefits (17).

MIPPA also undergoes total 6 rounds of the funding from the time its enactment happened in the year 2008. 

All states are allocated funding based on a formula that takes into account each state’s Medicare population. The most current MIPPA reauthorization comes from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Pub. Law 115-123, enacted on February 9, 2018. This legislation extends MIPPA funding for outreach and enrollment for two years, through fiscal year 2019.

The human rights are about every individual and they are the most important when it comes to the older people in Australia. Every one entitled to enjoy the human rights with no discrimination of any kind involving the discrimination on the basis of their age. There are certain type of human rights and liberty which is certainly apt for the older people involving the rights to:

• Enough standard of living involving the access to enough food, clothes and houses.
• The high probable standard of physical mental health
• Work environment and the fair conditions.
• Safety and permitted from violence(18).
• Liberty from the painful and disrespectful conduct.
• Privacy
• Life which involves family.

Issues Older People face: There are some of the major human rights which are faced by the older people in Australia. Some of them involves:

• Aged people might face biasness when it comes to the application of the jobs, looking out for promotions, accessing training or might be harassed in the places of work.
• The balance of the paid work with the care and the duties such as aged people always have caring attitude towards their young ones and health care.
• Entry to the apt and enough aged care facilities and health care(19).
• Abuse that involves financial, physical and psychological abuse of elderly people.
• Homelessness and very poor living standards and the dependency to the social security payments.
• Obstacles in the accessing government services and other chances for involving in the community life. 

Elder people have recognized a variety of fences that stop their occupied contribution in numerous features of existence. These comprise: community conveyance not being related to important community buildings and facilities, necessitating people who are fewer moveable to walk long distances; and fences in public organization such as not having chairs in airfields for individuals to be able sit down when taking off shoes to go through security.

Minimize the influence of bodily and cognitive ageing: In future, instead of the retreating of the institutions, older Australians could live smartly, linked to their families which discretely evaluate their everyday practices and health position. Automatic transport systems & agility absorbed technology involving exoskeletons can also support people to continue to be mobile (20).

National Strategy Principles

Bridge geographic distance: Digital technology can eliminate topographical fences by allowing prompt interaction and distribution of information. Grownup people can stay in touch with family over Skype, or link with medics through telehealth conferencing.

Control social, intellectual and financial capital: Digital technologies permit people with the usage of the belongings obtained over a lifespan in new means. New markets  like Airbnb could support produce revenue from under-used items, whether a car, power tools, a skillset or spare rooms.

Provide info and teaching: As mechanization takes over tasks presently achieved by human employees, adult people will be weak. Studies advise that older people tend to be further pretentious by technology compelled trimming and mostly are less likely to find the other employment.

Make associates: Digital technology can also ease new influences by connecting individuals with parallel benefits and requirements. In this way, it will sanction folks to exert more compliantly, find a soul partner, or donate to a worldwide task force (21).

The human rights commission helps the Human rights act for Australia. A Human Rights Act that comprises human rights like right to passable accommodation, fitness and an satisfactory customary of living would make a change to the lives of older people in Australia. It will recover the rules, procedures and facilities that influence on the everyday lives of older people. It could assist in the prevention of  human rights cracks and could deliver cures in cases anywhere those breaks happen. It would need our administration to inspect how choices influence on the human rights of older people. If Australia had a Human Rights Act, it could:

• Develop the federal Parliament reflect on how laws influence on human rights – for example, they would demand to reflect whether an alteration to a law breaks the human rights of older people.
• Grow the federal government respect the human rights while creating policies – for example, whilst evolving aged care rules, the government would have to defend the human rights of older people, counting their right to suitable accommodation and health care.
• Develop public retainers regard the human rights whilst creating judgments and supplying assistances – for example, this could comprise of making sure that assistances are manageable to older people.

Also in Human Rights Act, there is a variety of methods in which the human rights of older people could be better indorsed and endangered in Australia. For example: improved defense of human rights in the Australian Composition,  consolidation defenses under the ADA,  acceptance of an Equality Act, a National Human Rights Action plan, counting a emphasis on the rights of ageing populace in Australia.

Conclusion  

This report generates the data on the older aged population of the country Australia. There are a lot of people who are old aged and they face troubles in the human rights as well. The health care costs because of the population that is ageing rises. This report in the first half tells about the numbers of the ageing population and also creates a demographic data of the ageing public in Australia. There are nearly a few issues which are confronted by the persons of Australia when it comes to the human rights,. Those issues are mentioned and the solutions of solving these issues are also discussed. The health care policies which the government of Australia possess with respect to the old age people are also mentioned and the policy responses to the pubic are also mentioned. MIPPA is one of the act which was enacted in order to keep a good health care services for the older aged people. Definition of MIPPA is also mentioned in the report. It is significant that the rights of the elder public is endangered. Solutions of protecting the rights of the elder people is also mentioned in this report. The data is based on Australia region.

References  

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