.jpg)
International Day of Older Persons: Longer Lives Must Also Be Good Lives
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
1 October 2026
AAMHP calls for dignity, connection and mental wellbeing to remain central as Australia’s population ages
The Australian Association of Mental Health Practitioners (AAMHP) is marking the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, observed on 1 October, by calling for greater attention to the psychological wellbeing, autonomy and social connection of older Australians.
The 2026 United Nations theme, “The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives,” reflects one of the major social changes of our time: people are living longer, and societies must ensure those additional years can be lived with health, participation, security, choice and dignity.
AAMHP Chair Shane Warren said increased longevity should be recognised as an achievement, while also challenging assumptions about what later life should look like.
“Living longer should not mean becoming progressively less visible. Older people continue to lead families, contribute to communities, work, volunteer, form relationships, learn, create and make decisions about the lives they want to live.” [Shane Warren]
“We need to be very careful about the subtle way age can become a reason to stop asking someone what matters to them. Dignity includes being listened to, having choices and continuing to participate in your own life.” [Shane Warren]
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare notes that Australia’s older population continues to grow, increasing demand not only for health and aged-care services but for systems capable of responding to the changing needs of people across longer lives.
AAMHP Secretary Susan Sandy said mental-health practitioners also need to resist assuming that psychological distress is an inevitable consequence of ageing.
“Grief, anxiety, depression, loneliness and major life transitions can occur at any age. We should never dismiss somebody’s distress with the idea that feeling lonely, frightened or disconnected is simply what happens when people get older.” [Susan Sandy]
“Older people may be navigating retirement, bereavement, changes in physical health, caring responsibilities, changing family roles or loss of independence. Those experiences deserve the same curiosity, compassion and appropriate support we would offer at any other stage of life.” [Susan Sandy]
Social connection remains particularly important. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows that around 15 per cent of Australians aged 65 and over experienced loneliness in 2024. While that rate has declined from 20 per cent in 2001, loneliness and social isolation remain associated with poorer mental and physical health.
AAMHP says supporting mental wellbeing in later life requires more than treating illness.
It includes maintaining meaningful relationships, opportunities for participation, appropriate housing, accessible services, financial security, community connection and the ability to retain as much choice and independence as possible.
Shane Warren said ageism can itself undermine wellbeing when older people are spoken about primarily in terms of dependency or burden.
“One of the most useful things we can do is stop talking about older people as though they are a problem society needs to manage. An ageing population asks us to rethink our systems, certainly, but it also gives us generations of knowledge, relationships, contribution and lived experience from which communities continue to benefit.” [Shane Warren]
The United Nations has similarly called for societies to confront age discrimination and create systems that enable older people to continue participating meaningfully in community and economic life.
AAMHP encourages mental-health practitioners, health and community services, families and policymakers to ensure older people remain active participants in decisions affecting their lives.
International Day of Older Persons is therefore not simply an occasion to look backwards and honour what older generations have contributed.
It is also an invitation to look forward and ask what kind of later life we are building for them, and ultimately for ourselves.
Longer life is an achievement. Our challenge is to ensure those additional years remain connected, meaningful, dignified and genuinely lived.
Media Contact:
Shane Warren, Chair
Susan Sandy, Secretary
Philip Armstrong, CEO
Comments