Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Council of the Ageing NT CEO Sue Shearer says seniors are feeling scared and like prisoners in their own homes with hundreds of personal alarms being rolled out to help them feel safer

Transcript

Council of the Ageing NT CEO Sue Shearer says seniors are feeling scared and like prisoners in their own homes with hundreds of personal alarms being rolled out to help them feel safer · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: I'm very pleased to say that. Joining me in the
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  Speaker 1: studio right now is Sue Shearer, the CEO of the
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  Speaker 1: Council of the Aging here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, So.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning kat you. Nice to see your smiling face again.
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  Speaker 1: Great to have you on the show for the first
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  Speaker 1: time this year. Yeah, thank you, Chuck. Yeah, good to
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  Speaker 1: see you now. So there's plenty happening around the place.
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  Speaker 1: There always is, but I want to ask you first off,
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  Speaker 1: more cost of living relief is being offered for senior
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  Speaker 1: Territorians the Seniors Recognition Scheme. Those cards are set to
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  Speaker 1: be distributed in July.
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  Speaker 3: That right, hopefully everybody has registered. You have to register
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  Speaker 3: reregister every year. So the Department Churchie, Housing, Families and Community.
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  Speaker 3: It's a mouthful, isn't I just say CHURCHI families know
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  Speaker 3: that you are still on this earth and your dress
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  Speaker 3: hasn't changed. Because I don't want to send the card
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  Speaker 3: out that might get who know, misused, So you have
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  Speaker 3: to make sure you've reregistered. That's for the Seniors Recognition
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  Speaker 3: Scheme and the NT Concession, so they both go together
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  Speaker 3: to be registered. So make sure of that otherwise you
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  Speaker 3: won't get you five hundred dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Now, what can that five hundred dollars be used for?
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  Speaker 3: Soup? As we said a while ago, it's opened up
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  Speaker 3: to almost everything except gambling, naughty products. You know, you
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  Speaker 3: can't buy naughty products with us. And then there was
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  Speaker 3: one other which escaped me at the moment, alcoholry. Of
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  Speaker 3: course major one obviously alcohol. But while while it does
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  Speaker 3: provide quite a bit of relief, it hasn't been index
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  Speaker 3: to CPI. It came in into eighteen. The cards actually
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  Speaker 3: came in two nineteen, so that's four years it stayed
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  Speaker 3: the same. And as we know, the two major issues
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  Speaker 3: for seniors are costs of living and crime. There's safety
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  Speaker 3: while they're out doing the shopping, so they really have
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  Speaker 3: to look at We did write to the previous Chief
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  Speaker 3: Minister and will write again to this Chief. You've minister
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  Speaker 3: saying it has to be at least indext to the CPI.
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  Speaker 1: And so that point that you made there about cost
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  Speaker 1: of living and safety being major concerns for senior territories.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I reckon it's across the board for everybody,
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  Speaker 1: but especially for our senior territories. You know, when you
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  Speaker 1: look at the cost of living and then when this
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  Speaker 1: is a great initiative, there is no other way to
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  Speaker 1: put it.
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  Speaker 2: It's great, it is great.
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  Speaker 3: It has to keep up, it has to keep up
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  Speaker 3: with the times. And obviously when you do your shopping
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  Speaker 3: and for seniors on you know, on a set income,
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  Speaker 3: the pension really hasn't kept up. And also obviously if
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  Speaker 3: you're on job start as well, that has if you're
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  Speaker 3: over sixty and you're you know, or sixty five and
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  Speaker 3: there's a gap there till you get the pension. So
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  Speaker 3: if you are on job start forty dollars a day,
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  Speaker 3: it doesn't cut it. So it really does. It really
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  Speaker 3: does help, but it needs to be more practical and
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  Speaker 3: they really do need rather than spend three million dollars
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  Speaker 3: or whatever on geoscience ground So I'm sorry, ok, or
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  Speaker 3: moving the library, Let's look after people who can't look
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  Speaker 3: after themselves properly. Let's get real about this. It's rather
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  Speaker 3: rather disgusting that this hasn't been index to the CPI
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  Speaker 3: and why move the library? Really, for the cost of
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  Speaker 3: it to add another one hundred or one hundred and
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  Speaker 3: fifty dollars to each in every card will probably be
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  Speaker 3: about three million. How much will it cost to move
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  Speaker 3: the library.
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  Speaker 1: It's a bloody good question with all of us want
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  Speaker 1: to know the answers exactly.
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  Speaker 3: So really, you know, I don't often get angry, but
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  Speaker 3: I'm really angry when I get seniors calling up and
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  Speaker 3: I can't afford to feed themselves, and especially we have
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  Speaker 3: the highest rents in Australia and they're in a private rental,
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  Speaker 3: they're getting the pension. Their private rental is five hundred
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  Speaker 3: a week. That's a thousand a fortnite. What do they
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  Speaker 3: get in their pension a thousand a fortnite, So where's
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  Speaker 3: the money to feed themselves? So really we have to
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  Speaker 3: get serious about looking after the people our seniors.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I agree with you.
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  Speaker 1: I think our seniors are so wonderful in our community
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  Speaker 1: for so many reasons. But we also want to keep
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  Speaker 1: them here in the Northern Territory. And if you don't,
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  Speaker 1: I think what you'll actually find is that you lose
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  Speaker 1: families out of theory as well.
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  Speaker 3: In Alice Springs as an example, I know ten of
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  Speaker 3: my friend long term friends who have lived there fifty
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  Speaker 3: years and they're leaving at the end of the year
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  Speaker 3: because their children and their grandchildren are leaving and they're frightened.
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  Speaker 3: It's not the town that it was. We know that,
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  Speaker 3: but they just and with them goes the sale of
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  Speaker 3: their house, their superannuation. So in economic terms as well,
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  Speaker 3: Alice Spings is losing not only people who are volunteered
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  Speaker 3: and contributed to the town's growth. And these people have
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  Speaker 3: had businesses and some might keep these businesses, but guess
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  Speaker 3: what all the profits will go down south or to
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  Speaker 3: the Eastern States when they really Okay, that's the other
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  Speaker 3: thing the government has to think of as well in
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  Speaker 3: economic terms of people leaving, and it really makes me said,
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  Speaker 3: I've known these people since I was in my early
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  Speaker 3: twenties and I moved to Alice. So there's a whole
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  Speaker 3: lot of different consequences for you know, for the safety
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  Speaker 3: as well, but also with the cost of living.
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  Speaker 1: So just on the cost of living for a moment.
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  Speaker 1: So with the you know, with the card not being
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  Speaker 1: indexed to CPI, what do you reckon it needs to
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  Speaker 1: go up by.
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  Speaker 3: I'd say minimum one hundred, one hundred and fifty.
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  Speaker 2: So it should be at six hundred, six hundred and fifty.
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  Speaker 3: Fifty at least and then index it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, all right, so you've spoken You've written to
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  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister about it.
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  Speaker 3: Your Chief Minister, and I've written to the Minister for Seniors,
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  Speaker 3: and I will try again. My head's a little bit
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  Speaker 3: bent from on the brick wall, you know, but we
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  Speaker 3: will keep trying.
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  Speaker 2: You so I know that you will keep trying.
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  Speaker 1: And do you know what I reckon A lot of
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  Speaker 1: people listening would be thinking to themselves, I would prefer
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  Speaker 1: that money be invested into Northern Territory scene years and
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  Speaker 1: helping our Northern Territory scene is and doing things like
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  Speaker 1: moving the library.
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  Speaker 3: Oh exactly, it's common sense really that the library there
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  Speaker 3: is Okay, yep, it really. It's a very lovely library
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  Speaker 3: in a very lovely setting. I mean, and it's not urgent.
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  Speaker 3: I would say it's not urgent, yeah, but this is urgent.
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  Speaker 3: Feeding our seniors and making them secure is urgent.
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  Speaker 1: So on the safety side of things, you know, it
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  Speaker 1: is something that you and I have spoken about on
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  Speaker 1: numerous occasions. You touched on then seniors in Alice Springs
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  Speaker 1: and the fact that we are seeing some of those
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  Speaker 1: seniors in Alice Springs actually leaving town from your perspective
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  Speaker 1: and from what seniors are telling you, you know, in
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  Speaker 1: your role with Kota. How are they feeling in the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: Scared and frightened and they're prisoners in their own homes.
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  Speaker 3: They won't go shopping at Casarina, especially after what happened
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  Speaker 3: last week. They won't go there. So you know, sometimes
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  Speaker 3: Lad at night, when you're lying there, as you know,
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  Speaker 3: you have thoughty kisses as I call them. And I thought,
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  Speaker 3: what's the main thing, cost of living and safety? So
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  Speaker 3: how can we co to help? So we formed an
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  Speaker 3: alliance with Neighborhood Watch and Victims of Crime and we've
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  Speaker 3: got these personal alarms. So the main ones was to
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  Speaker 3: send them down to Alice Springs for vulnerable seniors. And
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  Speaker 3: they make a hell of a noise. It's one little
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  Speaker 3: practical thing that might make them feel safe in their
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  Speaker 3: own home or when they're out shopping and we're all
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  Speaker 3: going to order. We've got very lucky to be the
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  Speaker 3: reciprocant of the PRBA. They raised money for charity, so
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  Speaker 3: CODA got some of that money. Then the Australia Posts
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  Speaker 3: they nominated us for some reason. They think we're terrific
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  Speaker 3: for thousand dollars, so that'll go towards those alarms, and
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  Speaker 3: we'll also apply for another grant through I think it's
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  Speaker 3: Power and Water Community grant. So again the practicality of it,
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  Speaker 3: so we'll send some more down to Alice Springs. We
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  Speaker 3: felt they were in more need at the moment, so
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  Speaker 3: we'll order probably five hundred six hundred, and victims of
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  Speaker 3: crime as well will order some, and Parmesan and rural
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  Speaker 3: seniors living seniors will have come on board and they'll
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  Speaker 3: order some as well. So it's a bigger lions that
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  Speaker 3: we're looking at, and we'll give them out to vulnerable seniors,
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  Speaker 3: you know, especially ones living on their own as well.
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  Speaker 1: So that's pretty extraordinary that our Northern Territory seniors have to.
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  Speaker 2: Go to that level where you're.
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  Speaker 1: Purchasing personal alarms for our seniors because they don't feel safe.
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  Speaker 3: They don't feel safe and they can attach it to
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  Speaker 3: their bag and when some I won't swear, some person,
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  Speaker 3: nasty person wants to steal it or in their home. Then,
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  Speaker 3: as I said, we tested it outside Coder and everybody
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  Speaker 3: came running. But the main thing is to remember I
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  Speaker 3: was going to and I thought, I know, we might
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  Speaker 3: get the fire brigade or whoever coming down but again
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  Speaker 3: you look for practical solutions and how how can we
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  Speaker 3: help our seniors because it's just it's just tragic, really
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  Speaker 3: what's happening out there. And as you know, as you said,
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  Speaker 3: you hear it every day. So how and if fisk
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  Speaker 3: is them some sort of security to leave their home,
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  Speaker 3: which a lot aren't doing. Their prisoners in their own homes.
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  Speaker 3: They've worked hard, they're in a twilight of their years,
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  Speaker 3: so they should be out enjoying themselves.
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  Speaker 1: Really, it actually makes me feel really sad they're seniors
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  Speaker 1: that aren't leaving their homes because they don't feel safe.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, is that happening often?
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  Speaker 3: It's happening a lot. Because I've also been asked from
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  Speaker 3: seniors and Alice Springs when they shop online, if they
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  Speaker 3: have a Senior's discount card and I have going to
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  Speaker 3: approach Wolworths and Coles, could they get a discount on
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  Speaker 3: their delivery they're shopping online, you know that they're not
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  Speaker 3: as I said, they're not leaving their houses and they
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  Speaker 3: won't go Obviously, I've had numerous calls from seniors up
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  Speaker 3: here they won't go to Casarina, but they can't afford
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  Speaker 3: the fuel to go to Gateway or Curlinger, so you
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  Speaker 3: know it's affecting everybody's lives.
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  Speaker 1: Is there anything that we can do, you know, as
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  Speaker 1: a community to try and help our seniors so that
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  Speaker 1: you know, like I know, we're going to get people
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  Speaker 1: ringing go saying do you know what, Katie, I'd be
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  Speaker 1: really happy to walk around the shopping center with somebody
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  Speaker 1: if it would help them, well.
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  Speaker 3: If they would like to, that would be wonderful. And
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  Speaker 3: we've also offering our bus to pick up people, but
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  Speaker 3: we haven't got one in Alice, so we can't pick
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  Speaker 3: them up. But as an example, Katie of how safe
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  Speaker 3: they might feel or could feel. For International Woman's Day,
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  Speaker 3: we've got some funding and we're organizing a lunch out
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  Speaker 3: to Ura Minna Homestead. Now we're sold out. We've got
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  Speaker 3: eighty seniors wanting to come on that lunch, so we
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  Speaker 3: had to get another bus, so we will fund that.
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  Speaker 3: But I'm a actually I just remembered that the bus
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  Speaker 3: is giving us another free bus, which is wonderful. So
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  Speaker 3: that's how safe they will feel. They want to get
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  Speaker 3: on the bus and go out to Uramino because it's
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  Speaker 3: it's safe, and I wish we could offer more outings
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  Speaker 3: like that. But you know, but we can't. And that's
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  Speaker 3: why people said, O lovely colleagues and Alice, DeBie and
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  Speaker 3: France sold out. So in three days, I said, well,
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  Speaker 3: that's because they'll be safe and they'll be picked up,
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  Speaker 3: there's a bus and they'll enjoy it. So that's that's
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  Speaker 3: the thing.
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  Speaker 1: So good on you guys that you're organizing. You know,
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  Speaker 1: these these personal alarms. Now we have already had people
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  Speaker 1: get in contact asking can you please remind us again
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  Speaker 1: how they can get their hands on one.
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  Speaker 3: Well, as I said, they.
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  Speaker 2: Can get one from you, purchase at whatever they need
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  Speaker 2: to do.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we're actually hopefully giving most of them away, but
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  Speaker 3: we've just put the order in so they'll be they'll
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: be coming coming in hopefully in the next month, but
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  Speaker 3: I like it sooner, but we have to. We have
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  Speaker 3: to do that, and they will be our expo is
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  Speaker 3: in May, but hopefully obviously before then. But it just
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  Speaker 3: depends on the supply. As you know. Sometimes excuse me,
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  Speaker 3: it's harder to get them. But they will be first
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  Speaker 3: of all for our members and after that for vulnerable
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  Speaker 3: seniors who live alone.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, that's in contact with you at Kodu.
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  Speaker 3: They can get on our on our website and put
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  Speaker 3: it ordered. We'd love to order, Like you know, there's
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  Speaker 3: thirty thousand seniors on our database. We'd love to order
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  Speaker 3: thirty thousand, you know. But obviously it's a needs basis
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  Speaker 3: as well, and this is not out of our core funding.
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  Speaker 3: This is the generosity of people like the Palmestan Regional
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  Speaker 3: Business Association, Australia Post and hopefully Power and Water when
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  Speaker 3: we put it, when we put that grant in for
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: their five thousand dollars which is for community benefit, I
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  Speaker 3: think this will benefit the community more than a lot
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  Speaker 3: of other things that would be happening. Really, if it
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  Speaker 3: makes somebody a senior can get out of the house
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  Speaker 3: and feel safe and secure, well then it's more than
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  Speaker 3: worth it, isn't it, Katie?
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  Speaker 1: It absolutely is so, Shira, Honestly, I feel really sad
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  Speaker 1: hearing that our seniors are in that position. And I
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  Speaker 1: know it's not absolutely everybody probably that feels that way.
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  Speaker 2: What can be done here?
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  Speaker 1: You know? Like I just feel like we've got so
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  Speaker 1: many situations at the moment where people are being impacted
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  Speaker 1: by crime and personal and not feeling safe.
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  Speaker 3: Yep, that's right. Well, and as you know, they've worked
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: awfully hard, they've volunteered, they've worked really hard. And when
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: we've got the Australian Brewer of Statistics, we have the
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  Speaker 3: fastest growing seniors over sixty five territory in a long church.
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  Speaker 3: You know's where the government really the next one is
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: the Act, so we really do have to look at
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: things like how can we make them safe? Do we
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: have more retirement villages? I mean it was it was
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: an election commitment in twenty sixteen that the Labor government
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  Speaker 3: if they got in they will build a retirement village
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: in Alice Springs and a retirement village in the rural.
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  Speaker 3: So what year is it again, Katie refresh my.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: Member twenty twenty three?
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Well, so where is a team or where is it?
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Well, sou Shier.
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  Speaker 1: I always appreciate your time, but thank you very much
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  Speaker 1: for coming in this morning and being really bluntly honest.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that it is very much required. We've
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: passed the point of, you know, of tiptoeing around some
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: of these issues because we need to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: our sceniors are safe.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly we want to We purport to be the voice
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: of seniors and we want to represent them and that's
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: all their concerns. So watch that pink song. Don't want
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: to play nice anymore, you know.
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  Speaker 1: So shier. Thank you, as always for your time, the
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: CEO of the Council of the Agent here in the
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Northern terrat Thanks for coming on