The Illawarra Region is made up of four local government areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. In 2016 Age Friendly Illawarra was developed, an alliance of six bodies, including local government representation through the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation, committed to support a cycle of continual improvement and join the World Health Organisation’s Global Network of Age Friendly Communities as an age-friendly region.

Working as a region presented it’s own unique challenges and the establishment of a Steering Committee for Age Friendly Illawarra with specific terms of reference was critical. With many separate initiatives underway within the region, Age Friendly Illawarra has worked to position itself as a unique cross-sectoral body to bolster and generate support for activities that are improving the age-friendliness of the region.

A strengths based approach, informed by gap identification was communicated across engagement and consultation events.

This toolkit outlines the journey of Age Friendly Illawarra and process towards a regional approach to Age Friendly Communities and Cities.

A regional approach to Age Friendly