The City of Unley Active Ageing Strategy guides Council’s approach in all of its activities to promote Active Ageing within our City and ensure that we meet the changing needs of our community throughout their lifetimes.

We want our community to be able to live fulfilling and connected lives at any age, and for our city to be a great place to grow old. In order to achieve this we recognise we must adapt our structures, services and programs to be accessible to, and inclusive of, our older people who have varying needs, capacities and preferences.  The goal of developing an Age Friendly City is a responsibility we share with our community: we will collaborate with government agencies, industry providers, service clubs and community groups to deliver actions.

Click here to view our Active Ageing Strategy

The implementation of our Active Ageing Strategy is monitored by the Active Ageing Alliance – a committee of 20 local community members and industry professionals. The Alliance meet quarterly and provide input and expertise into projects and the priorities for the Active Ageing work plan.

Our work implementing strategic projects in our Active Ageing Strategy has been recognised through a number of industry awards:

• Local Government Professionals Australia (SA) 2016 Leadership Excellence Awards for Excellence in Age Friendly Communities.
• Active Ageing Australia Celebrate Age Award 2017
• Finalist for Local Government Professionals Australia (SA) 2018 Leadership Excellence Awards for Community Partnerships and Participation

Our flagship projects include:

• Forget Me Not – a primary school education program, involving Grade 5 students undertaking a term of lessons about dementia and inter generational arts activities. This project is a partnership between Unley Primary School, ECH (Aged Care Provider), University of South Australia and the City of Unley. It garnered significant national and international media attention and is being evaluated by the University of South Australia.
• Unley Legends Series 1 and 2 – a partnership project with Resthaven Inc (Aged Care Provider) which involved producing a series of short films of local older people who embody ‘active ageing’. These films were launched at a local cinema and both had substantial social media campaigns, with the aim of promoting positive ageing messages and debunking stereotypes about what it means to grow old.
• Age Friendly Streetscapes – our City is one of the oldest areas in Adelaide and many of our footpaths were designed before cars existed. As such, in order to create a pedestrian friendly environment, we are prioritising a network of streets which provide a high level of amenity and access. These streets all have upgraded access ramps, footpaths at least 1.5m width, and bench seats with back and arm rests.