Ita Butrose, the 2013 Australian of The Year, has made it clear that she will use her position to encourage a more positive approach to ageing. “As Australian of the Year, I would like to promote a more positive approach to ageing to tackle what I perceive to be ageist attitudes in our society” she said.
She is certainly taking on a big challenge as we are constantly seeing negative and dismissive messages about older Australians. This web site and our 2 books strenuously oppose these outdated and ill- informed attitudes which suggest that people over 50 are “Old” or “passed it”.
We believe that there’s a big difference between being an “Old person” and an “Older person”.
Unless you have a serious health issue, your attitude and lifestyle define whether you are “old” or ‘older”. There are plenty of people in their 80s who may be “older”, but their zest for life ensures that they’re not “old”. There are also plenty of “old” people , still in their 50s.
So it’s largely up to us and our attitude to life as to whether we want to be an “old” or an “older” Australian. If you want to be in the latter category, there are plenty of articles in our 2 books and on this web site than can assist you to develop a more positive attitude to life after 50.