As we face the tail end of a cold winter and begin to look forward to spring, COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria are embracing key changes, delivering essential services and resources, and planning for major events in the coming months.
This includes the launch of the new Seniors Rights Victoria website, which has been has been redesigned to better help those that need to access our support. As highlighted through our activity as part of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, elder abuse is a rarely acknowledged and misunderstood form of family violence. This makes getting the right information to those experiencing elder abuse, or know someone at risk of elder abuse, vital. Our hope is that our website is now easier to navigate, so you can get the tools and information that you need.
Over the past month, we have hosted and attended some key forums and events. This includes the launch of our new resource on Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans and how councils can include ageing and older Victorians in these plans. This delivers on a key action item as part of the Ageing Well in Victoria 2022-26 Action Plan, the key strategic document for ageing in this state. With the announcement of the Seniors Victorian Advisory Committee, we will continue to advocate around the need to update, and deliver on, the Action Plan.
We are also beginning to plan and launch our activities for the upcoming Seniors Festival in October 2024. While still a couple of months away, COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria are intending to host an array of events and opportunities for older Victorians and, in particular, our members. This includes our Aged Care Navigation in a Nutshell event, as hosted by our Care Finder team, who will provide support to older Victorians in navigating aged care through one-on-one, half-hour time slots. Our recent case study of Ada captures the impact that navigation services can have.
A key part of the Seniors Festival is, of course, the Victorian Senior of the Year Awards. The program includes COTA Victoria Senior Achiever Awards for significant contributions to local communities and the state, and we’re — as always — incredibly proud to have our name attached to such an honour. Nominations are open for all the awards so I highly encourage you to nominate an inspiring older person in your life and community.