Discuss about the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
According to the World health organization (2008), active aging is the procedure that involves taking advantage of the opportunities for health, participation as well as security as a way of improving the quality of life as individuals’ age. Active aging allows older persons to tap into their potential for physical, mental, and social well-being in their life course and to take part in society while ensuring they are adequately protected and receive the necessary care when needed. It is for this reason the World Health Organization (2002) adopted an active aging policy framework that approaches health from a far-reaching perspective by addressing issues relating to policies and programs relating to older adults. The WHO’ active aging structure has remained functional in Australia in improving the aging process through the National Strategy for an aging Australia that highlights the essence of a prosperous and healthy aging country is emphasizing the significance of WHO’s active aging framework. To date, the WHO existing aging model continues to function as a guiding tool for improving the aging process and addresses the universal challenges of population aging. This paper will critically evaluate WHO’s active aging model as implemented in Australia and elaborate on how the country’s aging population gets represented in policy legislation and society.
According to the World Health Organization (2002), an active aging method of policy and program development is a step forward in addressing numerous challenges for the aging population. When health, labor market, education, employment and social guidelines support active aging, the quality of life for an older person is more than likely to improve, and medical treatment and care costs are more than liable to drop. Active aging guidelines and programs expound on the essence of encouraging and balancing personal responsibility. In reality, individuals and families ought to plan for older age and take singular steps towards positive health practices at different stages of life (World Health Organisation, 2001). In Australia, the National strategy for an aging Australia among other national organizations’ in the global community have implemented WHO’s active aging framework as a reaction to the challenges and opportunities of having an aging population. Australia faces the problem of increased longevity as a result of better living standards hence the national strategy for an aging Australia reiterates the essence of representing older persons in policy, legislation, and society as a whole (Andrew, 2001).
As far as policy and programs are concerned, the active aging principle described in WHO’s active aging model deliberates on the need for ratifying policies and programs that enhance active aging concerning increased participation and healthcare cost reduction (Kalache et al., 2002). The idea is that remaining healthy during the aging process reduces or eliminates impediments that interfere with a person’s working capability. From a global point of view, early retirement in industrialized nations stems from public policies that encourage early departure from the labor market (Walker & Maltby, 2012). The active aging model depicts that as nation’s grapple with aging populations, the traditional policies relating to early retirement ought to change. The framework bases its argument on the idea that if more people reach old age while in good health, it will help in offsetting the increasing costs of pensions and income security programs including those relating to social care and medical expenses. In other words, policymakers should focus on enacting measures that tackle the well-being of persons during old age rather than policies addressing medical spending.
In Australia, the national strategy for an aging Australia depicts that the dominant youth culture has long held the view that a cohort of young people entering the job market reduces the labor cost as young people join the labor market for cheaper rates (Bishop, 2000). The entry of younger people has resulted in mature aged workers being increasingly encouraged to take early retirement and make way for a younger workforce. The first retirement logic draws its motives from the common conception that having old people in the labor market results in an augmented cost of paying for their medical upkeep while younger people enter the job market at lower prices which is considered more advantageous (Swan & Raphael, 2006). The problem with early retirement is that it creates gaps when the number of people retiring surpasses that of people entering the labor market resulting in an economic standstill. The WHO active aging model in its participation policy elucidates that governments should enact labor market policies and programs that promote individual participation as they advance in age (World Health Organization, 2002). An example of an Australian labor policy designed to promote the economic participation of older individuals is ‘the May 2001 federal budget initiative’. ‘A fair go for older workers’ that provided a $147 million to assist older jobless persons by availing additional places in employment, education, disability, training, and transitional programs’ (Andrews, 2001). The national strategy for an aging Australia is clear on the fact that the supply of younger workers is declining hence the need to retain and rehire aged workers.
Integrating mature aged workers in the labor market has its perks as far as developing an economy is concerned though there is also a downside to facilitating old age employment policies and programs. One of the disadvantages of encouraging an older workforce as deliberated in the national strategy for an aging Australia is the idea that older workers are expected to face particular technology based issues. With the ongoing changes and advancements in the online technologies and digital information economy, mature aged workers are reluctant to learning an understanding new technology. Therefore the Australian government, as well as organizations, has to incur the excess cost of funding technology-based learning for older workers. Another disadvantage is the fact that enacting policies that promote old age working will ultimately lead to an upsurge in the number of people living with disabilities as result of work-based incidences. The increase of disabled, aged people means that both private and public organizations’ will incur the extra cost of compensating the disabled elderly workforce.
The WHO’s active aging framework reflects on the need for enacting laws that protect the rights of older individuals to participate in the labor market. In the active aging principle relating to security, the model emphasizes the need for protecting older people since they are most vulnerable to discrimination as well as physical and psychological abuse. According to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (2006), older individuals in Australia are most vulnerable to racial, sex, and disability discrimination. As far as racial discrimination for the elderly is concerned, older workers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander decent receive protection from the Native Title Act of 1993 (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2002). The National Strategy for an aging Australia also points out that women are more than likely to face age discrimination despite their enormous contribution to the economy. Unfortunately, there is no federal law to protect the rights of active aging women, but their rights receive protection from general aged care regulations.
The WHO’S active aging framework emphasizes the need for enactment of laws that lessen inequity in the safety rights of mature age workers. The abolition of the workplace relations act 1996 was a step forward towards ending mature age workers discrimination (Mitchell et al., 2005). The criminal law substantially covers offenses relating to fraud, incidence behavior, property crimes, stalking, assault, and theft. The Queensland Criminal Code Act 1899 provides for severer penalties for violations involving sexual offenses where the victim is psychologically impaired (Urbas, 2000). Contract and tort law also offer legislative remedies for mature aged workers in cases involving assault, negligence, and duress in cases about financial abuse. A limitation of the WHO framework is that the model elaborates on the principle need for enacting legislations and laws that protect the rights of working age persons. Though the problem is that in Australia, there is yet to be an enactment of a law that directly helps in dealing with issues of discrimination of senior women at work and the aging workforce in general.
The World Health Organization (2002), explains that insufficient social assistance stems from an upsurge in psychological distress, morbidity, and mortality which contribute to an overall decline in overall health and wellbeing. In essence, older individuals likely to lose family and friends compared to other demographic groups in society which live them in isolation. Decision makers in non-governmental organizations, private, and health industries can help promote social networks that foster social capital for mature age workers by supporting community groups and traditional societies run by older persons (Fried et al., 2004). Social capital is a catalyst for the cooperation of institutions that hold society together. The National strategy for an aging Australia recognizes that current community views of older persons still suffer from predisposition formed in prior times when the elderly were limited, and their lifespan was lower than they are in recent times (Davis & Bartlett, 2008). Younger people are unaware of contributions made by the elderly. Positive attitudes to the elderly are a crucial part of social cohesion with older Australians encouraging a positive attitude towards the aging process will yield benefits in the broader community. The WHO framework plays a vital role in advocating social and psychological assistance to aged workers though it fails to consider the negative and informed attitudes of people in society.
Conclusion
The WHO active aging model provides guidelines for improving the quality of life for people as they age. In Australia, the national strategy for an aging Australia implements the WHO active aging framework in tackling issues relating to the country’s aging population. The WHO framework after implementation by National strategy for an aging Australia concludes that the government should treat aged as a crucial part of the country’s labor force rather than viewing them as additional expenses in the job market.
References
Andrews, K. J. (2001). National strategy for an ageing Australia: An older Australia, challenges and opportunities for all. Department of Health and Aged Care.
Australia. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, & Calma, T. (2007). Social Justice Report 2006.
Bishop, B. (2000). The national strategy for an ageing Australia: attitude, lifestyle & community support. Canberra ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.
Davis, S., & Bartlett, H. (2008). Review Article: Healthy ageing in rural Australia: Issues and challenges. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 27(2), 56-60.
Fried, L. P., Carlson, M. C., Freedman, M. M., Frick, K. D., Glass, T. A., Hill, M. J., … & Wasik, B. A. (2004). A social model for health promotion for an aging population: initial evidence on the Experience Corps model. Journal of Urban Health, 81(1), 64-78.
Australia. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. (2002). Social Justice Report 2002: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Kalache, A., Aboderin, I., & Hoskins, I. (2002). Compression of morbidity and active ageing: key priorities for public health policy in the 21st century. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 80(3), 243-244.
Mitchell, R., Campbell, R., Barnes, A., Bicknell, E., Creighton, K., Fetter, J., & Korman, S. (2005). What’s Going on with the ‘No Disadvantage Test’? An Analysis of Outcomes and Processes Under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (CWLTH). The Journal of Industrial Relations, 47(4), 393-423.
Swan, P., & Raphael, B. (2006). Ways forward: national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health policy.
Urbas, G. (2000). The age of criminal responsibility. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Walker, A., & Maltby, T. (2012). Active ageing: A strategic policy solution to demographic ageing in the European Union. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(s1), S117-S130.
World Health Organization. Ageing, & Life Course Unit. (2008). WHO global report on falls prevention in older age. World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2002). Active Ageing-A Policy Framework. A contribution of the World Health Organization to the Second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing. Madrid (ES): WHO.
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