There are a number of ways you can be involved in COTA’s work and contribute to our policy work.

Key activities in which older people have made a contribution include:

Have Your Say

Have Your Say is COTA’s program to engage with older people across Victoria. It provides opportunities for older people to have a say on issues important to them, as well as having input into COTA’s policy work. It includes an organized program of structured discussion sessions as well as informal interactions, surveys and polls.

Leadership and Older People

Over nearly two years, a group of members and friends of COTA Vic have discussed leadership in older age, what it means and how is it different from other times of life. This also includes the wide variety of effective strategies they use in their social activism to bring about change. They have attended two Seniors Conferences (in 2008 and 2009) and numerous meetings to discuss and develop their understanding of leadership as they practise it now. A full report of the strategies will be available soon. It will include stories from older people about their actions to bring about social change.

People at Centre Stage

COTA is a partner with a range of other organisations in the PACS project which is exploring how ‘self-directed care’ can work in community aged care to deliver better outcomes for people receiving services. Self-directed care means (or should mean) that the person receiving the service has a greater say in what services they receive and more control over their lives.

COTA is working with Carers Victoria to establish and coordinate Peer Facilitated Discussion Groups as part of the PACS project. People receiving services, their family members and carers will participate in Discussion Groups to explore their options and learn from each other over the course of the project, and the Discussion Groups are facilitated by COTA trained volunteers.

For more information on this project visit the People at Centre Stage site.

Seniors Conference

COTA annual Seniors Conference is an opportunity to discuss the issues that are important to older people across Victoria. It is held in conjunction with the UN International Day of Older Person’s. It is a free event and it is open to all seniors.

In 2010 the theme of the Seniors Conference was Climate Change and Older People. Read a report on the Conference.

In 2011 the theme of the conference was Be an Agent of Change. The great material that participants generated on the day is now available on our website, and you can also see photos from the day.