South Australia’s vision and priorities for ageing well, shared by both the government and the community, are outlined in South Australia’s Plan for Ageing Well 2020–2025.
South Australia's Plan for Ageing Well 2020–2025 (PDF 4.4 MB)
Putting the plan into action will help make South Australia's communities places where older people are valued and growing older is seen as a positive thing.
Plan Summary
Vision
South Australia is a healthy, connected, equitable and sustainable community, which takes a whole of life approach that fosters many years of living well, and supports us to die with dignity, in line with our wishes.
Aims
This plan encourages new ideas and partnerships to improve life as we age. Office for Ageing Well, through this plan and related projects, helps create communities that value older people and the benefits of an ageing population.
Key goals:
- Helping people build resilience and resources for all stages of ageing.
- Supporting diverse options for living well in later years.
- Encouraging communities to work together with older people.
- Promoting a positive and realistic view of ageing.
- Building resilience in individuals and communities for a good life in later years.
Strategic priorities
South Australia’s Plan for Ageing Well 2020–2025 has 3 strategic priorities:
Strategic priority 1 – Home and community
Homes and communities enable flexibility and choice, and support us to live how we choose, no matter our age, needs, wants and desires.
Strategic priority 2 – Meaningful connections
A future where everyone has the opportunity, support and encouragement to maintain and develop meaningful connections.
Strategic priority 3 – Navigating change
A future where we all have the capabilities and supports for remaining active participants throughout all life’s transitions.
Enabling factors
To realise the 3 priorities for ageing well, South Australians need to work together to:
Tackle ageism: South Australia must lead the way in creating an inclusive society, moving beyond ageism.
Grow diversity: South Australia must foster options and choices that reflect the diversity of needs, wants, experiences and aspirations.
Increase accessibility: South Australia must improve access to options, information and supports that enable ageing well.
Supporting conditions
3 supporting conditions underpin the 3 priorities for ageing well:
Outcomes-driven: Learn through action, align around outcomes, drive change from older peoples lived experiences.
Systems perspective: Develop leaders who act systemically, applying an ageing lens to all policies.
Collaboration — the power of partnerships: Foster conditions for collaboration, recognise the roles multiple stakeholders can play.
Statistics
South Australia has the highest proportion of older people on mainland Australia, with over 700 thousand residents aged over 50, making up 39% of the population.
Most people over 65 (95%) live independently at home, while only 25% of those aged 85 and over live in aged care facilities.
Final impact review
We reviewed the Plan to see how older people are experiencing ageing now, compared to when the Plan first started. It also helped us gather ideas to set new goals, actions, and partnerships for the next ageing well plan (2026–2036).
Nearly 3 thousand older people took part in the review. They shared their views through a community survey, one-on-one interviews with a wide range of older people, and focus groups. These focus groups included people in regional areas, LGBTI+ people, Aboriginal women, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The main topics — Wellbeing, Stronger Connections, Life Transitions, and Home and Community — were first found in stage 1 of the review. They are explained in the Final Impact Review of South Australia’s Plan for Ageing Well 2020–2025 Summary Report.
In May and June 2025, these main topics were talked about again in small group chats with older people from across South Australia. These chats were led by older people who were trained to run the sessions, along with help from the Office for Ageing Well and partner organisations.
Final Impact Review South Australia's Plan for Ageing Well 2020–2025 (PDF 1.0 MB)
Ageing Well Measuring Success Framework
Office for Ageing Well created a framework to measure the success of its plan to support older South Australians. This framework helps understand the impact, build transparency, share good practices, and improve future efforts. It is for anyone involved in ageing well in South Australia to see what success looks like and develop their own tools to measure their impact.
Ageing Well Measuring Success Framework (PDF 1.1 MB)
Statewide Community Conversations for a new Plan for Ageing Well
In mid-2025, Community Conversations took place with 317 older people across South Australia. These conversations will help inform the next South Australian Plan for Ageing Well.
The Final Report of the Statewide Community Conversations Project is a companion report to the Final Impact Review of South Australia’s Plan for Ageing Well 2020–2025.
The Community Conversations produced 4 themes and 13 recommendations. These are detailed in the report.
Statewide Community Conversations Project – Final Report (PDF 2.2 MB)
Statewide Community Conversations Project – Final Report Summary
Background
Methodology
Stage 2 used a mix of research and community engagement to shape the next ageing well plan. A Co-design Group of older South Australians and professionals helped guide the process and provided input throughout.
Clear Horizon carried out a horizon scan of Australian and international ageing strategies, which informed the themes for community conversations. These conversations were delivered in two ways:
- community-led sessions hosted by trained locals
- staff-led sessions with established groups.
All feedback was analysed and validated in a workshop with 46 participants, including community hosts and partner organisations. The findings and recommendations from this process will help set priorities for South Australia’s next Ageing Well Plan.
Themes
Theme 1: People have Peace of Mind
Older South Australians want to feel secure about meeting their basic needs and planning for the future. Rising living costs, transport problems, housing insecurity, and complex service systems make this difficult.
Theme 2: People are Safe and Well
Good health and a sense of security are seen as essential for independence and quality of life. Barriers include gaps in regional services, inaccessible environments, and limited culturally safe care.
Theme 3: People are Valued and Visible
Being valued means having fair access to services and opportunities, and feeling respected for individual identities and contributions. Challenges include fewer community spaces, cultural barriers, and complicated systems.
Theme 4: People are Participating
Participation is about having the confidence and opportunities to contribute socially and economically, which supports wellbeing and purpose. Digital exclusion, transport issues, and cost-of-living pressures often limit involvement.
Recommendations
1. Commit to building an ‘Age Friendly South Australia’ as part of the World Health Organization’s Global Network.
2. Focus on building workforce capability to provide empathetic and skilled responses to diverse needs and preferences of older people.
3. Ensure a dedicated and statewide focus on addressing the complex challenge of transport provision for all older people in South Australia.
4. Include a strong focus on renting and homelessness policy and practice across South Australia to better safeguard the rights of older people.
5. Commit to creating the conditions for people to grow older in their communities of choice.
6. Commit to an inclusive approach to normalise and facilitate financial, legal and health plans for later life, tailored to diverse cultural and support needs.
7. Focus on the ageing well needs of older carers and support for the people they care for.
8. Focus on designing simplified access to services and systems with the people who use them.
9. Commit to building inclusive health promotion approaches for ageing well.
10. Continue to build on the anti-ageism campaign for South Australia as a state where all ages and stages of life are valued equally.
11. Commit to improving the accessibility of the built environment and facilities for all older people.
12. Focus on providing access to and support for digital technology for all older South Australians.
13. Prioritise and incentivise the development of lifelong opportunities for older people to fulfil purposeful roles and meaningful contribution to South Australia.