A newly released policy report by two Australian sight-saving and support organizations has identified critical gaps in policies and programs that undermine the welfare of older people with disabilities.
Christian Blind Mission (CBM) Australia released the joint report last month (February 2025) in collaboration with the international sight-saving organization The Fred Hollows Foundation, which also works to improve the health of Indigenous communities.
According to a press release from CBM Australia, older people with disabilities are often rendered “invisible” and excluded from essential services due to “the intersection of ageism and ableism [that] disadvantages older people with disabilities in development and humanitarian settings.”
Vânia de la Fuente-Núñez, healthy ageing senior advisor at The Fred Hollows Foundation, elaborated on how the issue affects the older population.
“Disability is normalised in older age as if it were an inevitable part of ageing,” said Fuente-Núñez.
“This misconception undermines efforts to remove the barriers to participation and access to services faced by older people with disabilities.
“This population group is consistently under-represented in decision-making processes. As a result, their unique needs are frequently overlooked in development and humanitarian programmes, including access to assistive technologies or specialised services for individuals with cognitive decline.”
CBM Australia Head of Policy and Advocacy Kerryn Clarke highlighted the complexities older people with disabilities face due to the gaps between ageing and disability programs and legal protections, calling them “compound challenges.”
An example of how these gaps manifest is that “in some countries, older people are forced to choose between old-age benefits and disability allowances, reducing their financial security,” said Clarke.
Policy changes are urgently needed, according to the report, due to “rapidly ageing global populations and the increasing frequency of climate-related disasters.”
The data underscores the scale of the problem, the organizations stated. By 2050, the number of people aged 60 years or older in the Indo-Pacific is projected to rise from 466 million in 2015 to 1.14 billion.
At the same time, the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters exacerbates the challenges for older people with disabilities, restricting access to healthcare and increasing safety risks, such as theft.
“For example, evacuation warnings tend to rely on visual or auditory cues, leaving older people with visual or hearing impairments unable to access this critical information,” Fuente-Núñez said.
The organizations pointed to a “glaring” lack of effective policies addressing the intersection of ageing and disabilities, noting that while both issues have been studied separately, there is little research on their combined impact.
The press release outlined several recommendations for governments, older people’s associations, and authorities. These include adopting inclusive policies to address the impacts of ageism and ableism, implementing comprehensive education programs for humanitarian organizations, and establishing “mechanisms for the meaningful representation and inclusion of older people with disabilities in decision-making.”
