Community seniors honoured at UIA event
PRIYANKA RAO reports
Strike while the iron is hot. United Indian Association (UIA) has rightly used the opportunity around the seniors week and thrust some relevant seniors’ issues in the spotlight. An important benchmark in advocating for the seniors in the Indian community is to allow and further discussions about medical, transport and visa facilities. The UIA Seniors’ Forum organised on 19th March at the Parravilla Function Centre was a fantastic opportunity to throw some light on these matters in a light and cheerful tenor.
The forum was rife with information about various topics right from men’s sexual health to aged care facilities. Sumati Advani, Chair of the Forum Organising Committee, drove her point home when she elaborated on the seniors’ lack of access to very basic needs such as health card, travel card and medical benefits.
When elders and parents of young families arrive in Australia to settle here with their children, it is not all that easy for them. While the waiting times for bridging visas are high, their access to some very basic needs is indispensably hung in the balance.
Aruna Chandrala, President of UIA and Raj Natarajan, Chair of the UIA Seniors’ Committee, highlighted that UIA has been collectively advocating for seniors at the State and Federal government levels. Raj Natarajan said, “While there have been some wins, a lot is yet to be achieved. The UIA Seniors’ Steering Committee will continue to pursue these critical issues until they are resolved.” On that note, he also mentioned that he has been rationalising to establish a joint working committee who gives time and puts in their effort in order to list out and scrutinise the needs of the seniors in the Indian community in Australia, to both State and Federal governments. This would also mean hastening the process of addressing these concerns, which otherwise takes a long time.
Public forums and cultural events like this provide an interesting platform for many messages in the community. This year, Carewell Aged Care launched its second suite of aged care services, since laying its first foundations in August 2010 at the Seniors’ Forum. There was an informative presentation arranged by Madhu Chaudhari and Arnab Ghosh Dastidar, the founders of Carewell, who also provided valuable transport service for some of the attendees. Sheba Nandkeolyar, of Multicall Connexions came at the lectern provoking a few laughs at an old saying “Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter!”
“What matters is your support for a worthy cause…” she continued by mentioning the reason why her advertising agency has been supporting the cause of Carewell for aged care, which is close to many people’s hearts. She also mentioned that 2011 is the year of the census. “When the numbers don’t make a good count, it is hard for the decision makers to round up in favour of the Indian community,” Sheba said. “The Census of Population and Housing is conducted every five years and while the Indian community was hugely undercounted in the 2006 Census, 2011 is our chance to come out of the shell from being a hidden community,” she added.
Carewell’s vision is to provide culture-specific aged care services to a culturally and linguistically diverse audience in Australia. The organisation has been involved in advocacy for aged care services, to make training and support centres accessible to many aged groups in NSW. Madhu Chaudhuri, of Carewell said “Unique facilities like volunteer driven computer training classes, support to disadvantaged women, allied health care services and group activities are already being conducted in association with various other community groups. Apart from these, the dementia day care facility is going to be introduced very soon.”
Discussions on issues such as Power of Attorney, Wills and Advanced Care Directives, Health issues among the Ageing population & Healthy Ageing also formed an interesting part of the forum. Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre held a stall and provided useful information.
The Forum was also attended by Mr Vivek Kumar who represented the Consul General of India; Ms Julie Owens, Federal Member for Parramatt; Peter Primrose, Minister for Ageing; Barbara Perry, Minister for Local Government; Mr David Elliott, Liberal Candidate for Baulkham Hills and Mr Geoff Lee, Liberal candidate for Parramatta. Vivek Kumar, Peter Primrose, Julie Owens and Barbara Perry all praised UIA for the excellent work they are undertaking on behalf of the Australian Indian community. There was a round of applause when the Minister for Ageing committed to follow up on the issues raised at the Forum with the NSW Ministerial committee.
Community Service Awards were presented to Dr Gurcharan Sidhu, Mrs Hemalatha Chandramohan, Sri Vasudevacharya and Mr Selvadorai Tinnanur. Participants were entertained with Bollywood Golden Hits by Band Baja Group and Nandini. Lots of door prizes were won and the guests enjoyed a delicious lunch.
