Careless

Growing old never cost so much

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When director Sue Thomson’s 89-year-old mum, Margaret, begins to need additional help with day-to-day life, they face a decision that most families will encounter: whether to consider a residential aged-care facility; and, if so, how to find a suitable one amid a sector with a reputation for neglect and mistreatment. Margaret’s story becomes a springboard for an investigation of the political history of aged care in Australia, marred by a 40-year bipartisan privatisation agenda. As we hear from advocates, journalists and senior citizens who have experienced the system, a group of schoolkids discuss the situation we’ve reached with aged care and where we need to go from here – and of what they, and we, can expect in the future.