Council Involvement with Senior Citizens Centres & Seniors Clubs

Report on 2013 Survey of Victorian Councils

March 2013

Jan Bruce

Positive Ageing Policy Adviser

Elderly Citizens Centres

• Long history• Older Persons Welfare Council (now COTA) actively

involved• State government subsidies post WWII• Councils had management responsibility for

subsidised clubs• Benevolent role of clubs:• 1982 – name changed to Senior Citizens Club• 1985 – moved to HACC program

History of Senior Citizens Club Numbers

1947 – 1 centre in Fitzroy

1948 – South Melbourne Council first to establish a centre

1970 – 182 centres – 30,000+ members

1985 – 376 centres – 56,000+ members

1986 – 379 centres – 57,000+ members

2012 – 288 centres – 55,000+ members

Plus in 2012 an additional:

68,000 members of ethno specific groups &

65,000 people as members of other seniors groups

MAV Survey

• 75 councils responded (95% response rate)• Range of information sought

– Number of buildings– Number and type of seniors clubs– Reviews, research, evaluations undertaken– Membership numbers of seniors clubs– Support provided by councils to clubs– Provision of meals to clubs– The issues facing councils around seniors facilities and

clubs

Buildings Used by Seniors Clubs

  Total Metro Councils Rural & Regional City

Councils

No. % No. % No. %

Dedicated Senior Citizens buildings owned by council 288 45% 137 38% 151 55%

Other council owned facilities used by seniors groups 347 55% 221 62% 126 45%

100% 100% 100%

 Total Council owned buildings 635 58% 358 52% 277 69%

Buildings not owned by council but used by seniors groups 451 42% 327 48% 124 31%

Totals 1,086 100% 683 100% 401 100%

Seniors Clubs

  Estimated Number of

clubs

% of seniors

clubs 

Metro Rural

Senior Citizens clubs 852 35% 639 (33%) 213 (38%)

Ethno specific Seniors clubs

735 30% 713 (38%) 22 (4%)

Other clubs 859* 35% 538 (29%) 321 (58%)

Estimated Total 2446 100% 1890 (77%) 556 (23%)

Club Membership

  Estimates for Victoria

Estimates –Metro

Estimates -Rural

Senior citizens clubs 55,700 42,200 (27%) 13,500 (46%)

Ethno specific seniors clubs

68,000 66,800 (42%) 1,200 (4%)

Other** 65,000* 50,000 (31%) 14,700 (50%)

Total 188,700** 159,000 (100%) 29,400 (100%)

Older people and seniors club membership

  Total Metro Rural

Over 60’s population (ABS Census 2011)

1,055,000 728,500 326,800

Location of over 60’s in Victoria   69% 31%

Estimated % of over 60’s as seniors citizen club member

5%  6% 4%

% of over 60’s as ethno-specific seniors club members

6% 9% 0.4%

% of all other seniors club members

6% 7% 5%

% of over 60’s as members of some type of senior's club

18% 22% 9%

Council support provided to seniors groups

Grants to support clubs with their activities

Rent subsidies for use of council owned facilities

Regularly bring seniors clubs together

Full-time position with part support role

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

69 69

52

44

74 74 74

6466 66

36

30

Council Support to Seniors Groups % of Councils - (1) All Council

Metro

Rural

Support provided by councils

Council provides rental assistance to some seniors clubs using facili-

ties not owned by council

Council regularly provides group based meals to clubs

Council assists some clubs with their management and reporting

responsibilities

Part-time position with part of role dedicated to supporting

clubs

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

39 39 37 35

4542

393534 36 36 34

Council Support to Seniors Groups % of Councils - (2)

All councilsMetroRural

Provision of Meals

Frequency of Group Meal Provision

Number of Councils

(n=35)daily 7

about once per week 25

about once a fortnight 4

about once per month 12

special occasions 10

rarely 7

Provision of Meals

daily about once per week about once a fortnight about once per month special occasions 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

4

17

3

9

5

0

8

1

5

33

6

1

5

6

Number of councils providing meals to clubs & frequency of meal provision

Senior Citizen Clubs

Ethno Specific Clubs

Other groups

Council review of seniors clubs and centre issues

Number of councils %

Utilisation and management of seniors clubs

35 64%

Increasing recreation and social opportunities for a more diverse membership

29 53%

Meeting regulations and legislative requirements around food handling

24 44%

Meeting regulations and legislative requirements in relation to disability access

26 47%

More equitable use of council resources to support seniors groups

24 44%

Issues for Councils

-1

9

19

29

39

49

59

69

79

4341

39

2624

Very Important Seniors Citizens Centre and Club Issues - Number of Councils

Issues for Councils

Difficulty finding people to take on club management roles

Unable to attract new members and declining in size

Sense of ownership of buildings limits their use by others

Increasing demand for facilities for new seniors activities

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

77

62

52

4541

5052

23

Chart 1Very Important Seniors Citizens Centre and Club Issues -

% Metropolitan (n=31) & Rural (n=44)metro

rural

Issues for Councils

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

4542

3229

18

30

2325

Chart 2Very Important Seniors Citizens Centre and Club Issues -

% Metropolitan (n=31 & Rural(n=44) - 2

metro

rural

• Strong interest in a forum to discuss the issue

• May 17th tentative date to get some councils together to discuss issues with each other and seniors groups

• Session to be held at the MAV