AAG Presents:
AAG Conversations: Issues that Matter series Episode 1
Building a System for Healthy Ageing
in Every Community.
Do we need a National Ageing Strategy?
We plan to record this event and make that recording
available to all registrants subsequently
If you can't make it on the day we encourage you to register
anyway so that you receive that link
Access to the recording in our video library will be
restricted to AAG members and webinar registrants
It is not clear how Australia can achieve healthy ageing at scale, or whether the goal of healthy ageing resonates with many older people today. With a rapidly ageing population, this webinar asks whether a National Healthy Ageing Strategy could provide the clarity, coordination, and ambition needed to build a system that supports people to age well across the life course while looking after older people now.
This 90 minute webinar brings together experts from geriatric care, primary health, design and the built environment, sociology and local government to explore why current approaches to ageing are often fragmented, reactive, and focused too late in life to be effective. The discussion shifts the focus from late life crisis responses to early intervention, life course planning, what makes healthy ageing meaningful and what practical actions could improve ageing outcomes now and into the future.
Key questions explored include:
- Do we lack the tools, coordination, or political will to deliver healthy ageing nationally?
- Are existing frameworks sufficient, or is a dedicated strategy needed?
- Are we missing “low hanging fruit” that could deliver immediate benefits?
- How can we move beyond aged care to focus on ageing well across communities?
The webinar examines clinical, community, policy, and system level components required to support healthy ageing and highlights the critical difference between managing aged care and enabling people to age well.
Participants will:
- Understand the current policy landscape shaping ageing in Australia
- Critically assess what a National Healthy Ageing Strategy could add
- Connect with cross sector colleagues working to reshape ageing systems
Hear from our speakers:
Tracey Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
Sandstone Healthcare Group
Tracey Johnson is Chief Executive Officer of Sandstone Healthcare, where she has led the organisation since 2012. Under Tracey’s leadership, Sandstone has grown from a single charitable GP practice into a nationally recognised model of integrated, team based primary care, earning multiple Practice of the Year awards and pioneering innovations recommended for national adoption.
A Churchill Fellow, health economist, and co founder of Cubiko and Co.Design4All, Tracey is a passionate advocate for health equity and community based care. She serves as Deputy Chair of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Primary Care Advisory Group and was appointed a Health Reform Champion by the Department of Health and Ageing. Her leadership is guided by a clear principle: people must always come before profits and process.
Prof Phillippa Carnemolla
Professor in the School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design and Society
University of Technology Sydney
Phillippa Carnemolla is a Professor in the School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design and Society, and is the Co-lead of the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative's Design and Innovation theme. Her research explores how built environments shape independence, autonomy, and the delivery of care. She focuses on community-led research and innovation across housing, workplaces, residential aged care, specialist disability accommodation, and inclusive cities within aged care and disability contexts.
She leads research commissioned by the National Disability Insurance Agency, state governments across NSW, Tasmania, and Victoria, The Big Issue, and aged care and disability service providers. Phillippa has held national board and advisory roles with organisations including the Centre for Universal Design Australia, the City of Sydney, the Greater Cities Commission, and the NSW Department of Planning.
Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves
Sociologist of technology and ageing
Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies
Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves (PhD, FRSA, FHEA) is an award-winning sociologist of technology and ageing. She is an Associate Professor, ARC Future Fellow, and Horizon Fellow at the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, University of Sydney. She is an expert on loneliness and digital inequalities in later life. Her research examines how emerging technologies, like AI and social robotics, can support rather than exclude older people, particularly those living with chronic illness, frailty, or complex care needs. This work has informed technology design and policy across the world, and has been cited by the UN, OECD, WHO, and EU. She has secured over $7 million in funding and works with community organisations, government, and industry to develop inclusive, evidence-based initiatives that uphold dignity and rights in later life. Barbara currently leads a national evaluation, commissioned by the Australian Government, of an aged care program addressing loneliness and social isolation.
Facilitated by:
Lui Di Venuto,
AAG Vice-President
Team Leader of the Active Ageing and Disability Programs
City of Onkaparinga SA