I'd like to thank my friend and colleague the member for Mayo for moving this motion. I don't agree that we need a minister for older Australians, but I understand the sentiments behind this motion. I am of course an older Australian. I'm over 70. I think that the motion is important because this is not just about aged care. Aged care is a very small part of what older Australians require. I'm someone who likes work and wants to continue working, and I still see patients as a paediatrician. It may seem strange that a paediatrician is talking on this motion. In fact, I did meet with the Prime Minister last year and said that I thought we should have a minister for children to specifically look after the needs of children in every piece of legislation that goes through this parliament. But, as an older Australian, I can see that the needs of older people are not being met in the way that they should be. Yes, aged care is certainly part of the issue, but there are many issues that older Australians face that the population is not aware of and are kept rather silent.

For example, we've had an explosion in the development of retirement living accommodation, but the legislation to deal with that and the requirements and standards in those areas have not really kept pace with the rapidity of the development. I know that my political office is often approached with concerns about retirement living legislation and conditions. We also know that, while many older Australians—many of my medical colleagues at my age—are doing very well, there are a small number of people in the older Australian group, becoming larger, that are struggling with issues like housing, access to health care and access to dental care.

Our government is working very hard to try and keep up with these needs, with the improvements in the pension and dental schemes, with looking at the transition-to-retirement schemes for people financially and with our increases in paying superannuation on paid parental leave, which will very significantly help, particularly with women as they approach retirement age. We're trying to increase their superannuation balances up to the same level that men have. We're also doing much in access to health care. Our cheaper medicines policies have been dramatic in the way they've improved access to health care. The 60-day prescribing has been described to me as one of the most significant changes in health care in the last 30 years.

We are an ageing population. More of us are getting older. In 2020, 16 per cent of our population were over 65. By 2026, over 22 per cent of the population will be over 65. They have needs, and they certainly are not always being addressed with our current social security and housing systems. Our life expectancy, of course, is increasing. In 2022, the average male could expect to live to the age of 81, and the average female could expect to live till 85, compared to 51 and 54 for males and females in 1900, so things are changing dramatically. Every year, we see an increase in life expectancy.

We must make sure that our society is conditioned and has legislation and has care for older Australians if they want to stay in the workforce or if they don't. We've done a lot as a government to improve the ability for people to still earn money while they're on a pension. There has been an increase of $4,000 in the amount that people are able to earn per year without affecting their pension. This has been a dramatic difference, encouraging people to stay in the workforce. It's estimated that, if we can increase by three per cent the hours that older Australians are working, this will add $33 billion to the economy every year. So I think it's vitally important that we keep older Australians in the workforce. We see this in medicine. My uncle Hyme, at 91, was still seeing patients until last year, and I said to him, 'Why don't you think about retiring?' He said, 'I don't like gardening, and I'm too old for bowls.'

The Deputy Speaker (Ms McKenzie): The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.