Older Victorians have been at the heart of our research, policy, and advocacy efforts. Here’s how our Policy and Advocacy team has worked with older people, for older people, ensuring their voices influence real change.
How we heard from older people
We used a variety of methods to listen to older Victorians:
- Online surveys: Four surveys focussed on disability, energy, digital access, and social connection, capturing the views of over 350 community members.
- Workshops, webinars, and forums: Covered key topics including social connection, municipal health and wellbeing, disability, energy, and more over the course of professional and public facing workshops, webinars and forums.
- Sector roundtables, working groups, and council sessions: Informed our policy development and advocacy efforts.
- Helpline and service feedback: Supported our advocacy with real-world insights and anonymised case studies from Care Finder and Seniors Rights Victoria.
- One-on-one consultations: Engaged with stakeholders across the broader sector on a range of topics, allowing us greater access to place-based insights.
- Submissions and briefings: Developed over 15 submissions and briefings using survey, workshop and community-sourced feedback and data.
- Meetings and events: Participated in 40+ engagements with councils, service providers, and government representatives.
What we focussed on
A few examples of the areas we provided advocacy and policy include:
| Disability inclusion | Advocated for disability support, based on need, not age – a process informed by a public survey (33 respondents) and sector engagement. |
| Elder abuse | Provided feedback on national and state-level plans, highlighting the need for greater awareness, inclusive prevention initiatives, and increased capacity for elder abuse early intervention. |
| Social connection | Considered over 160 survey responses, held an in-person workshop to discuss barriers and opportunities, and shared feedback regarding social isolation amongst older Victorians with sector decision makers. |
| Digital access | Listened and responded to 60 community members concern regarding digital connectivity and access, via the development of a guide and ongoing advocacy to increase accessibility across sectors; from energy to social connection to disability support services. |
| Energy | Heard from over 80 older Victorians about their experiences on energy stress, affordability, and climate resilience as part of the Our Energy Futures project, before publishing and sharing key findings with government, media and service providers. |
| Intersectionality | Developed an Intersectional Reference Guide on Elder Abuse, examining the impact of overlapping forms of marginalisation on the risk and experiences of elder abuse based on case studies provided by, and in consultation with, Seniors Rights Victoria, and sector experts. |
| The cost of living | Advocated for, and provided information on, budget initiatives seeking to reduce the impact of high daily costs on older Victorians in line with feedback provided by over 60 members on the urgent areas for government action through our pre-budget 2025-26 survey. |
| Aged care reform | Worked with COTA Australia to provide feedback on the aged care reforms, informed by cases from our education and Care Finder service delivery teams. |
Partnership-based engagement
Alongside our direct engagement with older Victorians, we work with Victorian and national organisations to ensure their voices are reflected in our work. These partnerships enhance our understanding across key issues such as disability, housing, healthcare, ageing research, caregiving, and discrimination. Our advocacy is enriched by their expertise and the place-based insights they bring.
In practice, this has included joint projects, consultations, submissions, information sharing, and participation in sector reference groups. Other examples include:
- Policy Working Group: A standing committee of advocates with expertise in key issues affecting older people.
- Victorian Elder Abuse Strategic Alliance: Convened in partnership with Seniors Rights Victoria, bringing together organisations in the family violence sector.
- Assistive Technology for All: A platform for ongoing input from the assistive technology sector, including consumer advocates.
- Minister for Ageing’s Senior Victorians Advisory Committee: A committee member alongside community advocates and other key sector organisations.
The direct outputs of our engagement
- New reference guides on elder abuse, health and wellbeing, and intersectionality.
- Disability Agenda for Action launched.
- Submissions influenced state and national elder abuse frameworks.
- Councils using our insights to shape health and wellbeing planning.
- Stronger recognition of intersectionality in elder abuse.
- Continued partnerships with over 40 organisations and departments.
How to get involved
We’ve had valuable engagement to date, which has played a key role in shaping our priorities. As we look ahead, we would love to hear your experiences, views and voice on key issues such as the upcoming budget, 2026 Victorian state election, women’s economic security, leadership in older age, and aged care.
If you are interested in getting involved, please email us or register as a volunteer of COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria.