Assignment 2 Submission Point Assessment 2 Description/Focus: Essay Value: 50 % Due date: Midnight Sunday (week 12) Length: 2500 words Task: Human services practitioners work across many domains of...

Essay: Policy Framework and Impact of Present Policies on the Elderly in Australia
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Essay: Policy Framework and Impact of Present Policies on the Elderly in Australia    
Introduction:
In recent times, there are various groups of people who are vulnerable in present scenario due to excessive competition and shifting standards of living. In a community, various groups of people coexist but not everyone gets similar privileges of advantages. Thus in those times it is the responsibility of the government to intervene and implement various policies to provide these people equal opportunities and a competitive edge. In a social setting the intervention of social services are also seen in order to help the underprivileged, be it lower income people, elderly or women. In the profession of social work the main aim is to maximise the welfare of the society as a whole and not just an individual. They aim for human rights and social justice. On the other hand, the government is also responsible for social reforms and providing benefits to the people who need it in the society. However, these social policies are not always beneficiary and have certain drawbacks. In this paper, critical analysis on some of the policies of government can be conducted. In order to assess the policies one of the critical and vulnerable group in Australian economy can be considered as the elderly population. Here, policy implications and how the elderly population are affected by these policies can be discussed (Aph.gov.au, 2019).
Elderly Population in Australia:
Elder people are one of the significant parts of the entire Australian population and they are an important part of the community. According to projections, elder generation of Australia is continuing to grow and by 2057, it will be more than double. It will create challenges for the government and social workers as they will need constant assistance in terms of healthcare and social welfare. In 2016, around 15% (3.7 million) population were over sixty five years old and in 2056 it is expected to grow by 22% (8.7 million). It is also evident from statistics that 2 among 3 of this population did not take aged care services and they were active. On the other hand 76% of the elderly also owned their own homes (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019). However, it is also evident that elderly people are one of the vulnerable communities present in the society. They are dependent for their income and they also have high health risk. Thus they constantly need support program for the government and social service units (Aph.gov.au, 2019).
There are certain problems that are faced by the elderly in the society. One such problem is social exclusion where the elderly suffer from social isolation and exclusion. They become socially isolated due to several reasons like chronic illness, children moving away with their families, and loss of a partner. The intensity of age discrimination increases in a society and their dependence increases in terms of healthcare, transport and housing. On the other hand the elder abuse is one of the topics of concern nowadays. There are various forms of elder abuse that can occur in a society (Carson and Kerr, 2014). Those can be financial, sexual, emotional, psychological or physical and it can also be caused by unintentional or intentional neglect. Thus government and human rights commission require strategies and also cooperation of various organizations to implement the strategies. Sometimes, elderly people are considered to be a burden on the society. However, it is evident that a significant group can be productive member of the society and with Australian healthcare services they also live healthy and longer (Aph.gov.au, 2019).
There are certain challenges with providing social services and implementing policies with the aged population and those can be discussed here.
Government Policies for Elderly in Australia:
In Australia the services and support for the elderly are given through several government programs through local, territory/state or Commonwealth. Support is also provided through voluntary sectors, communities, and not-for-profit and profit private sectors as well. Aged population get the mainstream benefits like income support, housing support, health support as everyone in the community but it is very important to distinguish this group and provide special privileges to them. In Australia most support and assistance is provided to the aged group that are disabled or frail (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019). Thus the community basically take into consideration those who are aged 70 and above to require their assistance as being the most vulnerable group. In recent times the policy tendency has concentrated more on the combination of ‘ageing in place’ and healthy ageing by keeping the aged people out of the residential and health facilities. They are going for Community Aged Care Package as they are more cost effective for the government rather than the residential aged care bed. Thus, the government is trying providing efficient as well as cost-effective service to the elderly population. Now some of the support programs of the government can be discussed here (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019).
There are various support and payments services that are provided by the Commonwealth to the aged community. They provide support payments and support services as well as support to the carers of the elderly. Now some of the services can be mentioned...