Tasmania's ageing population leads providers to invest further

Recent examples include Southern Cross Care’s Glenara Lakes expansion, Japara’s Riverside Views facility and the Cambria Green East Coast development.

The median age of Tasmania’s population is 42 years, compared with the national median of 37.2 years, and this age is increasing faster here than in any other state.

Southern Cross Care Corporate Services and Retirement Villages executive manager Richard Tyberek said Tasmania’s population was something the organisation took into account when conducting its strategic planning.

Southern Cross Care has 12 retirement villages throughout the state.

Between Southern Cross Care’s villages there are now 582 units, villas and apartments, which house around 800 people.

But the organisation is in expansion mode, with construction already underway on 20 additional units at Glenara Lakes, Youngtown, and a 13^th village scheduled for completion in early 2020 at Hobart’s Eastern Shore.

Once the additional accommodation is complete, Southern Cross Care will have 686 accommodation units, housing around 950 people.

“Our sites maintain a waiting list. As a consequence that was the catalyst that helped us decided to expand Glenara and build on the Eastern Shore,” Mr Tyberek said.

“It is based on demand. There will be a peak in the age of the population in the next 10 to 15 years and we’re looking at that peak and what happens next,” he said.

Southern Cross Care uses its waiting lists, population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and information from sister sites around the country to work out where to invest – and when.

“We’ve got a strategic plan that is updated every three to four years, but is reviewed constantly to see what needs to be done,” Mr Tyberek said.

Japara expanded its existing Northern Tasmanian facilities – Cosgrove Cottages and Sandhill – with the $17.5 million Riverside Views development, which opened in September 2017, marketing manager Hamisha Rewal said.

“The [Riverside] home was built to meet the growing need for aged care facilities in the Launceston region, where demand for an additional 160 aged care beds over the next 10 years has been estimated,” she said.

Riverside Views is home to 88 residents and includes a dedicated dementia environment.

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