• COTA Seniors Voice
• Have Your Say (form)
• Policy Council
  • Terms of Reference
  • Policy Principles
  • COTA Over 50s
  • National Policy Council
• Submissions
  • Budget Submissions
• Representations
  • Consumer Represention
• Volunteering
• Policy Events
• Policy FAQs
• Policy Links

The key objectives and functions of the COTA Seniors Voice Policy Council are as follow:

Objectives

• Identify issues for COTA Seniors Voice policy focus (state and national).
• Prioritise and research issues and proposed policy and program responses.
• Determine COTA Seniors Voice policies based on members’ input, research and dialogue, and in accordance with the Mission and Goals, and agreed policy principles.
• Represent and advocate COTA Seniors Voice policy, and provide leadership and expertise on ageing issues, to decision makers and centres of influence, and to the community generally.
• Determine main strategies for developing and advancing COTA Seniors Voice policy agendas.
• Exert influence on governments, media and other decision makers in order to advance COTA Seniors Voice policies and objectives.

Functions

• Provide channels for individual members to contribute to identification of issues and development of policy through membership, and direct communication.
• Provide channels for members of seniors’ organisations which are members of COTA Seniors Voice to contribute to issue identification and contribution to policy development from their constituencies.
• Initiate and support research on member, constituency and community issues relevant to the COTA Seniors Voice mission, including both short term and reactive work, and longer term proactive research.
• Auspice ongoing consultative forums of seniors, policy makers and other stakeholders, for the discussion of issues, developments and policy.
• Commission policy staff to develop policy proposals and priorities for consideration and decision by the Policy Council, which shall determine COTA Seniors Voice public policies.
• Support the representation of COTA Seniors Voice policies to Governments, political parties, public services, the media, other sectors of the community and the public in general.
• Support liaison with politicians, public servants, representative bodies of other sectors, academic and research institutions and other appropriate and relevant bodies.
• Maintain a range of policy and public affairs publications to assist in achieving the preceding objectives.
• Run forums at State level to highlight COTA Seniors Voice priorities and provide opportunity for engaging members, policy makers, and other stakeholders.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of information technology and knowledge management infrastructure to support the policy, research, advocacy and information leadership roles of COTA Seniors Voice.
• Initiate and manage, with policy staff, appropriate innovative research and policy development projects in line with COTA Seniors Voice goals and current priorities.
• Develop and sustain channels for liaison and dialogue with individual and organisational members about policy development, public affairs activities and strategies of COTA Seniors Voice.