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Executive summary
Victoria is entering a period of significant demographic change. More Victorians are living longer, and the older population is growing faster than the population as a whole. Almost 1.5 million Victorians were aged 60 and over in 2021, representing around 22% of the population. By 2046, this is projected to exceed 2.3 million people, or around one quarter of the state’s population. The population aged 80 and over is also expected to more than double over this period.
Older Victorians are also increasingly diverse in their cultural backgrounds, geographic location, economic circumstances, health and disability, family and caring responsibilities, and social connections. This creates significant opportunities for participation, contribution, and community life, while also requiring government systems to adapt to changing patterns of need.
Decisions across health, housing, transport, economic participation, disability, emergency management, family violence, and community services shape how Victorians experience later life. The policy challenge is to ensure that government has the capability to understand these changes, engage effectively with older Victorians, identify emerging issues, coordinate responses across portfolios, and invest in prevention and early intervention.
Victoria already has important foundations on which to build. The Ageing Well Action Plan has established a framework for action and supported statewide engagement with older Victorians via peak bodies and advocacy organisations such as COTA Victoria. Seniors Rights Victoria provides specialist elder abuse advice, advocacy, and legal assistance. Across health, housing, and safeguarding, there are also existing programs and responsibilities on which stronger responses can be built.
The 2027–28 Victorian State Budget should build on these foundations. Strategic investment in existing infrastructure, prevention, early intervention, and system design can strengthen government’s capacity to respond to demographic change before service gaps create greater human and financial costs.
COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria recommend four priorities:
- Strengthen Victoria’s ageing policy and engagement infrastructure through a $6 million investment over four years to support implementation of the Ageing Well Action Plan 2026–2030.
- Double investment in specialist elder abuse response to increase the capacity of Seniors Rights Victoria and strengthen elder abuse prevention, advice, and referral support.
- Develop and fund an Older Persons’ Health Strategy to improve prevention, integration, and system planning as the older population grows.
- Establish a central adult safeguarding system to address the gaps between existing services and provide a coordinated framework for preventing and responding to abuse, neglect, and exploitation.