We have started on an ambitious journey to make Knox one of the best communities to grow old in.

We want to design age-friendly physical and social environments to help older people to:

  • live safely
  • enjoy good health
  • continue to take part in society

In 2019, we joined New York City, London, Delhi, and thousands more cities and communities from around the world and became a member of the World Health Organisation’s Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities. In joining this network, we have made a commitment to a 5-year program.

The key to creating an age-friendly community is engaging with older people in the area. Over the 5-year program there will be opportunities for the community to participate and contribute to important initiatives and actions.

An age-friendly community is where older people have a stronger voice in deciding what social and environmental aspects of their area need to be more aligned with the needs of older people. Some of the thousands of age-friendly communities initiatives that are in place include:

  • The City of Boroondara (Victoria) have been creating intergenerational connections by connection local families with older people through a meal sharing program “The Casserole Club”.
  • The New York City council installed thousands of city benches near pedestrian lights and also lengthened the time of the pedestrian light as part of their City Benches program.
  • In Porta Portugal, the council co-hosted art and cultural exhibits to tell the life stories of older people in the community.
  • In South Delhi India, a program was created to increase safety on the streets. Older people were introduced to the patrol police in their area – met them personally and exchanged contact details.

As part of our engagement with the community, in mid 2020 we released a comprehensive Age-friendly Knox survey which was sent to over 3000 older Knox residents via mail and made available online to the rest of the community more broadly. The purpose of this survey was to find out how healthy and active our older community is, and, what they think Council and the community should prioritise to create an age friendly community.

A summary of the survey results can be found here.

Timeline

  • Timeline item 1 - complete

    Project launch

    June 2019

  • Timeline item 2 - complete

    Conduct Age-friendly Knox survey

    August 2020

  • Timeline item 3 - complete

    Establish Project Team

    September 2020

  • Timeline item 4 - complete

    Post survey focus group discussion

    November 2020

  • Timeline item 5 - complete

    Engage on term to describe over 55s

  • Timeline item 6 - complete

    Develop/finalise action plan

    February 2022

  • Timeline item 7 - active

    Monitor progress against action plan

    February 2022 to June 2025

  • Timeline item 8 - incomplete

    Evaluation focus group

    April 2025-June 2025

  • Timeline item 9 - incomplete

    Continuous improvement workshop

    April 2025-June 2025

Contact Us

Have questions or want to learn more about a project, contact us below:

Name Kylie Johnson
Phone 03 9298 8827
Email kylie.johnson@knox.vic.gov.au
Website www.knox.vic.gov.au/our-services/children-family-and-community-services/seniors-and-over-55s