The journey for Albany to become an Age-Friendly place to live started several years ago. Albany is seen as one of the most sought-after places to live in Western Australia (WA). With a vibrant community, relaxed lifestyle, and numerous places to explore, many residents have made the easy decision to spend the rest of their lives in the area. With a growing population and increasing number of senior community members, the City of Albany has long been committed to ensuring our community achieves a high quality of life through health and wellbeing, participation, and security as they age. The City’s first Age-Friendly Plan was developed in 2016 and in 2018/19 the City of Albany partnered with our neighbouring Local Government Authorities of the Shire of Denmark and the Shire of Plantagenet, as well as the Western Australia Primary Health Alliance, community members and service providers from across the Great Southern region to produce an Aged-friendly Charter for the Great Southern Region of WA. Then in 2022/23 following extensive consultation with the community and staff, the City produced The Age Friendly Albany Plan 2023-2027, which includes an action plan of realistic and achievable goals.

The City of Albany was also the first place in Australia to have a Compassionate Communities Charter to complement the commendable community work in the city being undertaken by the community and service providers for end-of-life care.

These documents are much more than just titles and warm words, these documents have and are guiding the work the City undertakes. From the installation of more age-friendly seating, better transport options and educational workshops through to our many senior-focused events and our ground-breaking physical, social, and educational activities program Long Live You, we are continuously looking at ways to make the city more age-friendly.