NATIONAL UPDATE
AGE SERVICES INNOVATORS RECOGNISED IN innovAGEING NATIONAL AWARDS FINALISTS AND WINNERS ALIKE ARE MAKING AUSTRALIA A BETTER PLACE TO AGE WELL
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rom a village-like community, to de-institutionalising aged care services, innovative manual handling training delivery, and a care hotel to avoid hospital admission, this year’s innovAGEING winners highlight an exciting range of ingenuity and creativity to support a better ageing experience in Australia. innovAGEING—Australia’s innovation network for age services funded by the Australian Government—and its Foundation Partners the Commonwealth Bank and KPMG Australia, were delighted with the quality of nominees. Beginning in 2019 with five categories—improving consumer choice, enhancing consumer experience, realising wellness and re-ablement, increasing care and service productivity, and increasing access to care and services—the awards now also recognise an individual for their outstanding efforts to innovate the industry. “This is a true celebration of what is creative, impactful and good in our sector,” says Merlin Kong, Head of innovAGEING. “Year-on-year, we’ve had impressive finalist cohorts for the innovAGEING National Awards, and this year’s winners were selected from a remarkable list of practical applications. Their success means better care and services for older Australians, and sustainability for our sector.” For KPMG Australia, who hosted this year’s innovAGEING National Awards event, it was incredible to see the number and calibre of applications. Nicki Doyle, Partner for Health, Ageing, and Human Services at KPMG Australia said, “The last two years have been incredibly challenging for the aged care sector. However, challenging circumstances are often the drivers for innovation.”
“This can be seen in the work the winners and finalists have undertaken—innovative ideas being implemented that are leading to better outcomes for older Australians. It is critical that the aged care sector continues to innovate, as this will support the changes that need to occur in the sector in order to transform, which will deliver improved quality and safety for older people.” Belinda Hegarty, Head of Strategy and Insights CommBank Health said, “We are so pleased to be supporting this fantastic initiative that highlights the commitment and innovation in the health sector. Congratulations to all the winners for their ingenuity and dedication. “It is because of their dynamic and collaborative approach that they will drive positive and meaningful outcomes across the age services industry. We are passionate about supporting the sector and look forward to seeing these programs and services come to fruition.” innovAGEING and the Foundation Partners send their commendations to every person and organisation who entered the innovAGEING Awards this year, and those who made the final selection. The 28 finalists were judged by Commonwealth Bank’s Belinda Hegarty, KPMG Australia’s Nicki Doyle, and Leading Age Services Australia’s Kerri Lanchester. In keeping with an innovAGEING awards tradition, there was also informal recognition of an innovAGEING network contributor. This year the accolade went to Kate Nuske, Project Manager for Innovation at ECH Inc., for her support of strategic network initiatives.
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