Policy making comes of age

Two academics from UQ’s Australasian Centre on Ageing (ACA) have brought research and policy on ageing and the baby boomer generation to the forefront.

Centre Director Professor Helen Bartlett and Research Officer Dr Robyn Findlay conducted a study to find how much government policy reflected the facts about the ageing experience. The six-month study found there was enthusiasm in government for increasing the use of research findings in policy development and that academia and the government should work more closely to make it happen.

“Policies that will affect baby boomers need to be based on clear and accurate information about their needs and expectations,” Professor Bartlett said.

The study was a collaboration between the ACA and the Queensland Government’s Department of the Premier and Cabinet. The results of the study were released on Wednesday, March 12 in a report presented by the Minister for Seniors Judy Spence at the ACA’s first Colloquia Series meeting for 2003.

Ms Spence said planning for Queensland’s ageing population required common sense, vision and a sound evidence base for policy.

“It makes sense to base our policy development on good research and we are lucky in the smart state to have a world class international research centre at UQ to work with,” Ms Spence said.

“The research has provided a range of recommendations and highlighted the critical role played by the Seniors Interests Unit in the Department of Families.”

The report, Linking the Ageing Research and policy Agenda: towards a strategy for Queensland found a number of research projects funded by the Queensland Government had been useful in informing policy. Professor Bartlett also found that greater clarity was needed about how evidence was used to inform ageing policy.

“The Seniors Interests Unit in the Department of Families was one of the few government departments that consulted older people on ageing issues when they were developing policy,” Professor Bartlett said.

“Given the numerous implications of our ageing population, it is important to involve all sectors, especially older people, in prioritising the ageing and research policy agenda and in identifying funding to ensure the best policies are developed and implemented.”

The study examined a large number of recent policy documents setting out government goals on ageing and interviewed a sample of government officers in Queensland responsible for policy development on ageing. The ACA report said better systems needed to be established to sift out what was relevant within the volume of available facts and information about ageing.

“The ACA has a crucial role to play in undertaking research on these priority issues,” Professor Bartlett said.

The ACA was established at UQ in 2000 and receives external funding from the Queensland Department of Families as well as internal UQ funding.

Media: For more information, contact Professor Helen Bartlett (telephone 07 3346 9080, email: h.bartlett@uq.edu.au) or Chris Saxby at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2479, email: c.saxby@uq.edu.au).