Australia has an ageing population because of sustained low fertility and increasing life expectancy. This means there are proportionally fewer children in the population and an increase in those aged 65 and over.
The comparison of age groups across various LGAs in the Southern Metropolitan Region (SMR) indicates significant trends that highlight the aging population. As outliers, Cardinia and Casey have a youthful demographic where as areas such as Bayside, Glen Eira, and Mornington Peninsula are experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population.
Example:
Bayside shows a high percentage of its population in the 65+ age group, Bayside has 23% of females and 20% of males, and Mornington Peninsula shows even higher proportions with 28% of females and 26% of males.
Glen Eira and Frankston also reflect significant portions of their populations in the older age brackets, with Glen Eira having 25% of females and 24% of males in the 45-65 age group.
In the older age brackets (45-65+), there is a marked increase in the percentage of females, especially in the 65+ category. This trend is consistent across LGAs like Bayside, Mornington Peninsula and Glen Eira, where the proportion of older females exceeds that of males.
Older women are increasingly living in poverty due to the accumulative impacts of systemic discrimination throughout their lifetime including lack of superannuation, gender pay gap, undertaking unpaid care in the home and a lack of support systems.
In 2022–23, around 34% of all clients who had experienced family and domestic violence and received support from specialist homelessness services in Australia were aged 45 and above (Australian Institution of Health and Welfare , 2024).
Older women are also more vulnerable to elder abuse than older men.
In 2020, 3,268 family incidents were recorded for females aged 65 and over; while for males, there were 1,920 recorded family incidents (Crime Statistics Agency, 2022). (70% more)
