Eden Down Under (and across the ditch!)

So my first question is, how is aging viewed in your respective countries?

I'm happy to say something about that.

I think all the people here very highly value their

independence.

So similar to a lot of the Western countries.

But on the other side, we also have the indigenous people, the Maori and Pacific Islanders, who really are caring for the elders in their own family, so intergenerational living.

So we've got both sides, like the more independent Western and then the community-focused native people.

Thank you, Hilda.

Yeah.

I think like Juliette might talk about that too, ageism still exists here.

Ageism in terms of even unconsciously that people are thinking, all the people, that's a decline.

There's no growth at the end of life.

So there is talk about...

That's all the people have a lot to contribute, but I don't think it is in the unconsciousness of people yet.

So language that's being used is very egotistical.

Okay.

Yeah, I think there's still, so a bit like Hilva said, just to frame that, I think there's two lanes.

So in one respect, because we have an extremely multicultural environment, we've got those that really embrace ageing and there's a movement to really support that.

And then there's the other camp and also because of the way I think it's funded in this country and

there is a bit of a,

ostrich with its head in the sand and it's like don't want to think about it don't want to deal with it I'm not going to age and it's not going to happen to me so um and that also that comes from both government and individuals so it's something that is still um not supported in a lot of ways as well so it's also still seen as the ambulances at the bottom of the cliff in many ways in this country um And we've got some major issues coming in terms of how we're going to deal with it, how we're going to fund a lot of elder care services.

And it's being talked about, but it's really not being prepared for.

And we have, like many, many countries around the world, in fact most, a major crisis on our hands.

I think we'll all be great with that.

And we're probably behind a lot of countries of the world in terms of even addressing that from a policy point of view.