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Liveable Design guidelines launched

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, Bill Shorten, launched the Livable Housing Design guidelines on 13 July 2010. These guidelines provide awareness within the residential design and construction industry and governments about the benefits of incorporating universal design principles into new housing.

They were developed as an outcome of the National Dialogue on Universal Housing Design, established by Parliamentary Secretary Mr Bill Shorten in late 2009. The National Dialogue brought together representatives from the housing industry, the disability and community sectors and governments to develop options to encourage the housing industry to embrace principles of universal design.

The guidelines describe a number of core easy living elements that aim to make a home more responsive to the changing needs of home occupants.

Universal housing design is housing that meets the needs of all people at various stages of their lives, including people with a disability and senior Australians, and its impact could be profound.  Enabling key living spaces and features to be more easily and cost effectively adapted to meet changing needs and abilities, means safer, more suitable housing. It can help increase social inclusion, improve health outcomes, and allow greater independence and increased opportunities for anyone experiencing disability.

The housing industry has embraced these guidelines and has developed a plan which includes an aspirational target of having all new homes meet the guidelines by 2020.
 

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Grand opportunity on the box

Source: Australian Ageing Agenda
 
The celebrity duo promoting The Grand Plan election campaign have appeared on Channel Ten’s 7pm Project to talk about choice, access and sustainability in aged care.

John Safran and Father Bob Maguire decided to lend their support to the campaign in a bid to get people talking about the importance and value of older people.

Mr Safran told the panel show that the objective of the campaign was to raise the profile of aged care services and to counteract negative stereotypes about ageing.

“All the aged care providers, the big names like the Salvation Army etc., want people to contact their local members to try to convince them that we should change aged care so it’s better,” he said.

“We’re very arrogant aren’t we? You know, you learn more from old people than from entering something in Google.”

Father Bob said he and Mr Safran had “banded together” to put a humorous spin on the serious business of supporting Australia’s elders.

“So many old people have got no choice in where they end up. The government won’t give them enough money,” he said.

“When you’re treated as old, you end up thinking you’re old and when you start thinking you’re old you feel you’re old and when you feel you’re old, you start acting old.”

So far, more than 800 post cards have been sent to grand older people and over 1,000 emails have been sent to the Minister for Ageing through The Grand Plan website.

Click here for more information about the campaign and to see how you can get involved.

 

 

 

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Pensioners pay more after pleas ignored

Source: SMH By Louise Hall
 
THE Keneally government will take more than a quarter of the $30 increase given to single aged pensioners who live in public housing, despite a federal rebuke and pleas from seniors groups.

From September, public housing tenants in NSW will be forced to dip into the welfare boost granted by the federal government last year to help pensioners cope with the increased cost of food, medicines and electricity.

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Incentive for seniors to switch from family home

Source: SMH by Kelsey Munro & Jessica Mahar
 
A STAMP duty exemption to encourage the over-65s to downsize to new dwellings has been labelled "an assistance package to builders rather than home owners". But it has been welcomed as smart policy by property developers and some seniors groups.

For the next two years seniors selling their home and buying a newly built dwelling worth up to $600,000 will pay no stamp duty. The measure is designed to remove the disincentive to downsize from the family home to a smaller dwelling.

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Tax is no issue if bubble pops

Source: Sydney Morning Herald
 
A real estate portfolio built on borrowing can turn bad if interest rates rise or values fall, writes George Cochrane.

I HAVE been on the same salary for years and with my wife's income we have a total of $120,000 a year. We contribute to super and have two children. I have $100,000 in shares, which are high-risk and almost gone now because of recent economic events. Five years ago I bought an investment property and eight months later bought two more. I have been progressively buying additional investment properties with the help of an investment advisory group and now have 15. My next purchase, hopefully, will be in 18 months' time when I again build enough equity to purchase 16 more properties. I will then hold everything for a further three years, sell 40 per cent and retire the debt on the other 60 per cent. In five to six years I will have 18 properties fully paid off with an income of $365,000 a year. It has only cost me $30 a week, the cost of health insurance. This doesn't include my super or other investments. I will be 52 when I retire. My question to you is: how can I minimise my tax when I retire? J.J.

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Time for some "political trouble making"

Source : Australian Ageing Agenda

Aged care providers around the country are being urged to play their part in a major industry election campaign set to begin next month.

The Campaign for the Care of Older Australians (CCOA) unveiled plans for its latest lobbying initiative at the Aged Care Association Australia NSW (ACAA-NSW) State Conference.

Due to be launched on 15 June, the CCOA campaign will focus on political relations, public awareness and local engagement.

CCOA members include Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA), Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA) and nine church and charitable organisations.

The CCOA election campaign will be based on the key principles of choice, accessibility and sustainability.

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