Homelessness, lack of aged care homes are the biggest issues faced by Wagga seniors

Homelessness and the lack of access to aged care were some of the issues highlighted at the third Wagga seniors’ forum.

Homelessness and the lack of access to aged care were some of the biggest issues raised at a seniors’ forum in Wagga this week.

About 150 residents attended the forum, held at the Mercure hotel, where they were able to share their concerns with NSW Minister for Seniors and Multiculturalism Mark Coure and Wagga state independent MP Dr Joe McGirr.

Wagga resident Alan Lean, who is on the board of the Pro Patria Centre, said the forum was an opportunity to address the issues that faced seniors.

“It’s wonderful Mark can join us and the feedback they get is at the grassroots level, it gets them away from their bubble in bureaucracy and gives them a good grounding to understand the issues affecting us in the local community,” Mr Lean said.

Issues on the table included mental health and isolation and access to aged care. Specifically, seniors were concerned about the bed shortages in aged care, which could see elderly residents transported to homes across Wagga and Gundagai with just a few days notice.

Dr Joe McGirr said it was a great opportunity to hear directly from older community members, and he hoped to take the issues raised to parliament.

Dr Joe McGirr spoke at the forum, now in its third year. Picture: Patrick Morrow

“From this forum I will push for more help from the state government,” he said.

“I’ll make sure our understaffed health system gets the funding it needs, as this has a deep impact on our seniors.”

Mr Coure said it was wonderful to be a part of the forum and his aim was to not leave any senior behind.

He said the NSW state government announced in last week’s Budget that of the $8 million allocation for seniors - $500,000 will go to continuing to support the NSW Seniors Card program; $1 million to the annual NSW Seniors Festival; and $1 million for the four NSW ageing advocacy organisations.

Seniors’ forum in Wagga. Picture: Patrick Morrow

“We are also making sure funding is allocated to continue the Tech Savvy Seniors program so it can help seniors be active members of their community in our increasingly digital world,” Mr Coure said.

“With some of the issues addressed (at the forum) being federal issues, we will make sure we pass this on to our federal counterparts to make sure the issues can be fixed for the better.”

The Wagga seniors’ forum, now in its third year, is seen as an important step in helping Wagga seniors.