Background
Established in 2015 with support from the Department of Communities, the Network aligns with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Age Friendly Communities framework and approach.
The Western Australian Government is a leader in Australia with the State actively supporting, and collaborating with, local governments to use the approach for strategic planning for their communities. Since 2007 over 80 local governments have received funding from the State Government to undertake the initial research and engagement to inform their age friendly strategic planning, as well as to implement actions from those strategies.
Since 2015 the Network has delivered regular Forums providing opportunities to understand the WHO Age Friendly methodology, profiling of age friendly projects and programmes, information on dementia friendly practices, and more recently local government age friendly responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participation at Network events are open not only to local government, but State Government representatives, Council on the Ageing (COTA) WA, and key sector stakeholders.
The WHO Global Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities (GNAFCC) continues to grow with now over 1,000 members in over 40 countries covering 240 million people worldwide (as at January 2021). The Western Australian Government is the only Australian jurisdiction to gain Affiliate membership to the GNAFCC. Communities recognised as members in WA include the Cities of Cockburn, Fremantle, Melville, Rockingham, and Wanneroo.