Resources

The Queensland Government has developed age-friendly resources in accordance with the World Health Organization's age-friendly cities model.

The Queensland: an age-friendly community domain information ((PDF, 557 KB)) Queensland: an age-friendly community domain information ((RTF, 272 KB)) provides guidance on how to achieve each of the eight age-friendly domains with practical examples.

The Age-friendly communities good practice review ((PDF, 646 KB)) Age-friendly communities good practice review ((RTF, 681 KB)) provides contemporary examples of successful age-friendly community work around Australia and overseas.

Queensland Seniors Fact Sheets

Five fact sheets have been developed in collaboration with the Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO) to provide key demographic information about older Queenslanders including:

The fact sheets provide current information available at the time of publication, and use 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing data or related ABS data. They show:

an estimated 926,000 people aged 65 years and over in Queensland in 2023 (or 17 per cent of the state population)
by 2053, there will be 1.7 million Queenslanders 65 years and older
while most older Queenslanders live in South East Queensland, there are many local government areas in Queensland with very high proportions of older people
nearly one in three (29 per cent) older Queenslanders were born overseas, from across 191 countries.

The fact sheets can be used as a resource for community and stakeholders to build a better understanding of older Queenslanders and help build an age-friendly Queensland.

Age-friendly model

There is an increasing emphasis on planning towards 'age-friendly' cities and communities that are designed to value the contribution of older people and ensure their access to all aspects of community life.

The World Health Organization developed an age-friendly cities model in 2007 and more recently an age-friendly world model. These models are based on 8 domains that assess a community's age-friendliness, which are:

transportation
outdoor spaces and building
housing
respect and social inclusion
social participation
communication and information
civic participation and employment opportunities
community support and health services.

The age-friendly approach is recognised globally as a useful and effective way to improve the lives of older people. However, it also benefits people of all ages.

An age-friendly community ensures people are free from age-related barriers that prevent their participation and inclusion. Older people are most likely to experience these types of barriers so they are likely to benefit most from an age-friendly approach.

Policies, services and structures are designed to support and enable older people to live in safety, enjoy good health, and continue to participate fully in society, accessing services as needed.

Queensland has an ageing population, a trend that is consistent with many countries across the world. About 14% of Queensland's population (or nearly 660,000 people) was aged 65 years and over in 2014. This is projected to rise to almost 20% by 2036.

For this reason, we have adopted the age-friendly approach as a basis for this new strategy for older Queenslanders.

The strategy will provide us an age-friendly vision for the whole community to work towards.