LASA Q Focus Magazine - Leading Age Services Australia ...

SECTION EDITORIAL NAMEFrom the CEO...On a topic which may appear far removed from age services policyhere in Australia, an ABC Radio National program recently examineda suggestion made by Professor David Hemenway from the HarvardPublic School of Health, that much can be learned from past publicsafety successes to curb the increasing incidents of gun violence inthe United States (US).Barry AshcroftCEOLeading Age Services AustraliaQueenslandE: barry.ashcroft@qld.lasa.asn.auGood public policy…it’s out there!What makes this topic particularlyrelevant to the current ageservices policy environment is thatincreasingly our industry faceswhat seems like insurmountableand unrelenting poor governmentpolicy decision making, resultingin long-term, systemic, detrimentaloutcomes across the sector.Hemenway’s concerns are that inthe US ‘a child is 13 times morelikely to be murdered with a gunthan an average child in otherdeveloped countries’. He thinksthat a solution may lie in how roadpolicy has developed in the US inrecent decades.The Professor noted that in the1950’s ‘we were always told thereason we have so many roaddeaths was because of drivers;drivers were behaving stupidly,aggressively and illegally…so verymuch like the gun lobby today(‘guns don’t kill people …’)…andthat is what the car manufactures ineffect were saying (too)’.He went on to illustrate howeverthat through asking the moreappropriate question around whatwas causing the increase in roaddeaths and injuries, and not whowas to blame, the problem couldreally begin to be addressed.By highlighting that automobiledeaths and/or injuries werebeing sustained as a result ofthe physical environment; glass,steering columns, trees andlampposts, government was able tolegislate and regulate automobilesafety standards, encouragingmanufacturers and designers tomodify their cars and infrastructurefor optimal safety outcomes.These new standards also createda new and highly competitivemarket for the automobile/transportindustries, inspiring contestand innovation in safety designstandards and applications thatcontinue to be a key consumerconsideration today.In addition, public awarenesscampaigns focusing on driveractivities, such as drink driving,fatigue and not wearing seatbelts,resulted in a behavioural changethat now sees the social tolerance ofthese activities greatly reduced.So what is it that we, the ageservices industry, can take awayfrom the policy synergies drawn byProfessor Hemenway?More often these days we arefaced with poor age services policydecision making that breaks allof the good policy making rules;poor issue identification – notclearly articulating the problem tobe solved, negligible consultation– asking the wrong questions ofthe wrong people, lack of detailaffecting implementation oflegislation/regulation…and the listgoes on.Reflecting on Hemenway’s thesis, itoccurs to me that we need to lookto the instances of good publicpolicy of the past (Superannuation,Medicare, Road Safety etc.), andwhat made them successful, or atleast more successful than aged carereform.Armed with these lessons, we mustcontinue to force government toadhere to the principles of the‘policy cycle’, particularly the clearidentification and articulationof the problem to be solved,followed closely by asking theright questions…of the right people(consultation, collaboration, andeffective engagement).We need to be leaders in our ownsector by encouraging providersand suppliers to actively pursueinnovation that enables betterservice provision and promotes ahealthy, competitive and sustainableindustry going forward.And importantly, we must alsoacknowledge that obstacles,hazards, and dead-ends willbe inevitable in the pursuit ofgood policy development andimplementation, but that this shouldnot dissuade us.Learning the lessons (good, bador otherwise) from the successesof the past may just reinvigorate,stimulate, or provide alternativesto achieving policies that benefitcommunities, governments andindustries alike.Barry AshcroftCEO LASA QLASA-Q Focus | Autumn edition 2013 3