Working together to make communities more inclusive and accessible for people of all ages was the focus of an age-friendly workshop held in Townsville today (20 June).
Minister for Seniors Coralee O'Rourke hosted the Townsville age-friendly workshop in Aitkenvale, bringing together representatives from across government, the sector and the local community.
"The Palaszczuk Government is committed to creating age-friendly communities, where Queenslanders, regardless of their age, can participate and be included in their communities, be resilient and enjoy social and economic wellbeing," Mrs O'Rourke said.
"This workshop is part of a series of 13 workshops across Queensland, which bring together people who have been involved in or are interested in making their communities more age-friendly.
"These workshops form a key part of our Queensland: an age-friendly community action plan.
"Through these workshops we aim to connect with and assist local communities to develop and implement inclusive approaches that reflect the diversity of Queensland seniors."
The Palaszczuk Government has created a series of resources to build a greater understanding of age-friendly communities, such as the Age-friendly Communities Good Practice Review and the Age-friendly Toolkit.
Mrs O'Rourke said these resources were a focus of today's workshop.
"I would encourage all Queenslanders to visit our Queensland: an age-friendly community website to access these valuable resources," she said.
"The Age-friendly Toolkit, for example, serves as a practical guide to assist local councils, communities and businesses in developing local age-friendly initiatives.
"Attendees at today's workshop learnt about the benefits of age-friendly initiatives and some of the opportunities that are missed by not having an age-friendly focus."
Mrs O'Rourke said she was proud of the work being undertaken in Townsville to make communities more age-friendly.
"Today's workshop gave us some great insight about the wonderful work being done locally to make Townsville more inclusive of Queenslanders of all ages," she said.
