MACA NSW Roundtable: Ageing Well — Insights from Western Sydney

Our Convenor, David Burns, had the privilege to speak at NSW Parliament House as part of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing (MACA), bringing together insights from across NSW.

Ageing is personal for all of us. It touches our families, friends and communities and how we respond matters.

WSYD Moving was invited to share insights from across Western Sydney. So, we consulted with all 13 western Sydney local Council and 3 Local Health Districts to present a collective regional voice. This reflects the strength of collaboration already happening across the system and the opportunity to go further.

The roundtable itself brought together leaders from policy, health, academia and community to explore evidence-based approaches to supporting older people to live active, healthy lives.

What we’re seeing across Western Sydney

While each community is different, there were consistent themes emerging across the region.

Barriers remain systemic, not individual.

Transport, cost, heat, digital exclusion and fragmented services continue to limit participation across all 13 LGAs.

What works is already happening locally.

Across Western Sydney, councils and partners are delivering strong, place-based initiatives from walking football and community cafés, to seniors wellbeing hubs and outdoor programs.

Alongside this, there are locally led signature programs making a real difference including initiatives such as Campbelltown’s Walking Football program supporting social connection through modified sport, the Penrith Village Café creating welcoming spaces for connection and access to services, free or subsidised access initiatives for seniors in areas such as the Blue Mountains at pools, the Liverpool Seniors Hub, and Fairfield’s Gyms in Parks program bringing free, accessible activity into local neighbourhoods.

Social connection is the starting point.

A key insight — older adults attend for the social connection first; exercise becomes the secondary benefit that builds long-term habits.

What works is already happening locally.

Across Western Sydney, councils and partners are delivering strong, place-based initiatives — from walking football and community cafés, to seniors wellbeing hubs and outdoor programs. These succeed because they are:

•  low or no cost

• locally familiar and accessible

• culturally appropriate

• connected to trusted community networks

The challenge is not ideas — it’s the system around them.

There remains a gap between health and community systems, an over-reliance on short-term pilots, and missed opportunities to connect people through pathways such as social prescribing.

A clear direction for change

There was strong alignment across the region on where effort is needed:

• Long-term, sustained funding over short-term pilots

• Better integration of transport with participation opportunities

• Greater focus on co-design with CALD communities

• Safer, more accessible built environments

• Stronger pathways between GPs, health services and community programs

More broadly, there is a real opportunity to shift from seeing this as “recreation” to recognising it as preventative health, improving quality of life while reducing pressure on the health system.

A systems response

What came through clearly is that no single organisation or sector can solve this alone.

Progress depends on local, place-based collaboration, with councils, health services and community organisations working together supported by sustained investment and alignment at a system level.

“Local contexts matter. The most effective responses are those co-designed locally and enabled through cross-sector partnerships.”

What happens next

As a next step, MACA is developing a Physical Activity Paper as part of a broader MACA NSW Ageing and Health Report Card, which will be presented to government.

This provides an important opportunity to ensure that the insights, challenges and locally led solutions shared through the roundtable including those from Western Sydney help inform future policy and investment.

It was great to hear from Minister for Seniors Jodie Harrison, MACA leadership and a range of contributors across the day, and to be part of a conversation focused on practical, system-level change.

We look forward to the next steps and continuing to work alongside partners across Western Sydney to support more active, connected and healthy communities as people age.