About COTA National Seniors

The two leading seniors organisations in Australia signed a Partnership Agreement to formally launch the COTA National Seniors Partnership at Parliament House, Canberra on 11 December. Media release

"New money for old. Australia's two peak lobby groups are merging, creating a potent political force for the nation's ageing population." Fred Bletchley reports in The Bulletin in June 2002 at http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/eddesk.nsf/All/1FA46ABA6633F3E4CA256BD00009474F

Big changes at COTA, seniors press, July 2002

COTA National Seniors is the largest seniors federation in Australia with more than 270,000 individual members and over 1500 seniors organisations under its umbrella. It offer members a vast range of services and benefits and an influential vehicle for contributing to policy debates affecting older people in Australia.

The Partnership, effective from 11 December 2002, joins the State and Territory COTAs, COTA Membership Services and Council on the Ageing (Australia) with National Seniors Association into a joint national operation that will merge and share various operations of the eleven organisations.The former COTA Australia has become the National Policy Secretariat, with responsibility for the participatory processes that will determine policy on federal and national issues for all organisations in the partnership

With its combined individual and organisational membership representing all aspects of Australian seniors interests, COTA National Seniors Partnership has a pre-eminent role in representing, advocating for and serving older people throughout Australia.

In terms of policy, it adheres to four principles.

Policy Principle 1: maximising the social and economic participation of older Australians.

The Partnership seeks to maximise opportunities for social and economic participation by older Australians, including promoting positive approaches to the contribution of seniors and the ageing of the Australian population, and by breaking down age discrimination in all areas of social and economic life.

Policy Principle 2: promoting sustainable, fair and responsible policies

The Partnership is committed to the development of fair and sustainable policies for seniors that take account of the needs of the entire community in the short and long term. It develops policies which are fiscally and economically responsible and which fairly balance the competing needs and interests of diverse groups amongst the senior population and other sectors of the community.

Policy Principle 3: protecting and extending services and programs that are used and valued by older Australians

The Partnership develops policies and provides advice on maintaining and improving services and programs which seniors use and value. These include primary health care, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, employment services, utilities, public transport, residential care, housing and community care. It will seek to ensure that there is an adequate "safety net" of services and income support which all seniors can access according to fair and equitable criteria in order to maintain a reasonable quality of life.

Policy Principle 4: focus on protecting against and redressing disadvantage

The Partnership believes that all seniors have the right to security, dignity, respect, safety, high standards of treatment and care and to equal participation in the community regardless of income, status, background, location, frailty or any other social or economic factor. As a result we will have a strong focus on seniors who are most vulnerable or disadvantaged in terms of these criteria.

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The Council on the Ageing (COTA) is the peak consumer organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting the well-being of older people. It has the members, skills, knowledge base, and resources to support this role. The Council on the Ageing (Australia) has a number of functions including:

• policy analysis and policy development
  
• provision of information and advice to older people on Commonwealth policies and programs
  
• provision of information and advice to the Commonwealth Government about issues of importance to current anf future generations of older people based on consultation with older people and research.
  

The Commonwealth Government recognises COTA's peak status through a grant to assist COTA (Australia) in fulfilling its policy, consultation, representation and information dissemination roles in support of all Australians over the age of 50.

At the State and Territory level, COTAs are involved in both service delivery to older people and policy work primarily focused on State issues. Individual members play an important role in maintaining the State-based organisations. Through their consumer base, State and Territory Councils on the Ageing provide the management structure for the Council on the Ageing (Australia) and thereby inform policy and priorities.

COTA (Australia)'s membership includes key national organisations which represent consumers and service providers. These organisations make a substantial contribution to the Council's policy development process.

COTA's membership is open to people over 50 years of age. Our policy work covers a wide range of issues of concern to this group: health services including private health insurance, employment, financial services, retirement and pre-retirement incomes, aged and community care services, housing, and information and communications technology.

COTA has both individual members and organisational members, who indirectly provide a very large membership base. Whether members or not, many older people, their carers and relatives as well as organisations come to COTA for information and advice and to alert us to issues in relation to Government policies and programs. The Seniors Information Services which COTA runs or auspices in most of the States and Territories field around 100,000 calls per annum.

The foreword above is printed in COTA (Australia) policy submissions.