Former Newtown mayor Jan Laidlaw has been selected for the inaugural Senior Victorians Advisory Committee. Matt Hewson spoke to her about a life spent working to make Geelong a better place and what she hopes to achieve in her new role.
Jan Laidlaw, 83, is not one to sit by while the world goes on around her.
She is one of eight older Victorians from a diverse range of backgrounds selected from about 270 applicants to join four aged sector members to form the Senior Victorians Advisory Committee.
A new body created to provide a voice to the state government on the lived experience of ageing, the committee will help inform policy and program decisions, including the implementation of the Ageing Well Action Plan.
The role is just another step in Jan’s long journey of working for the public good.
Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Jan moved to Geelong with her ex-husband 50 years ago – “only 50 years ago”, as she puts it – and has been advocating for her community ever since.
“I got involved in the early 70s; there was a program where 700 houses were going to be destroyed in Geelong for the freeway, and I was part of the Freeway Action Committee opposing that,” Jan said.
“Ours was an 1854 house… (it) was a total wreck when we bought it, took years of our lives to fix it up. And along with all the other people involved, we didn’t know for years whether our houses would go or stay.
“I just thought, if you’re not involved you just get run over by the process and the decisions.
“We saved all the houses, we had a really good committee and we also got on well with the person (Colin K Atkins OAM) who chaired the process. It just sort of led on from there.”
Lead on it did. In 1979 Jan joined the City of Newtown as a councillor, where she served for 12 years including two stints as mayor.
She faced the sexual discrimination one might expect from that era, but paid little heed.
“It was quite funny, the mayor of the day told me when I joined up that I might put my hand up to second a motion after I’d been there for a year, but not speak; after that I might speak,” Jan said.
“I said, well, I want to be on the Regional Library committee as council rep. I didn’t take any of that. I’ve been the same always, I just say what I think, I never voted on any party lines or anything like that.”
Despite her forthright approach, Jan maintained a friendly air, believing that it was better to make friends than enemies.
“(People) are usually disarmed by the fact that you’re friendly, it’s a bit of a shock to their system,” she said.
“There’s no point creating enmities and feuds when there’s no need to. I try not to make enemies because you never know when you’re going to need people (on your side).”
Throughout her time, Jan has continued to champion the issues she felt were important.
In 1984 she joined the Barwon & Leigh Rivers Advisory Committee to help protect Geelong’s waterways, later founding the Save the Barwon Committee and also becoming a member of Corangamite Catchment Management Authority committees.
Jan has also fought against the closure of local libraries, when Newtown Library was slated for closure in 1999 (it was later closed in 2005) and more recently as part of the successful campaign to keep Chilwell Library open.
“When the City of Greater Geelong council voted to close Chilwell Library I got involved with a group of five other people,” she said.
“We’ve been involved for seven years now, and we’ve got the decision reversed and we’ve got some funding for the library.
“We’ve got $1.5 million approved in the latest budget. That’s not going to cover everything, so there will be further funding, hopefully, in the following council budget.
“We’re all women, a range of different ages, different backgrounds, but everybody pulls together and we’ve each got our field of expertise. It’s great.”
Jan hopes to continue having a positive impact during her three-year stint on the Senior Victorians Advisory Committee, which officially launched yesterday (Thursday, December 5) at the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
“The thing I feel really good about is that it’s great to be embarking on something new when you’re 83, this is a totally new thing,” she said.
“There was a previous advisory committee, but the people on it were from government agencies, so this is the first time that people with lived experience of ageing have been asked to be on this committee.
“(There are) doctors, people from Aboriginal backgrounds, LBGTQI, people with disabilities, so it’ll be a really mixed gathering.”
Jan has a number of issues on her agenda, including improving access to the federal program My Aged Care.
“There’s no printed information about it at all,” she said.
“I’m vaguely computer literate, but if you’re going through a list of 50 different providers when you’re not computer literate it’s very hard to make a judgement.
“It says ‘we provide 24-7 services’, ‘every religion is catered for’, but it’s not like that.
“I’m lucky, I was already with the City for services and that’s been terrific. But a lot of people aren’t in that situation.”
Jan also hopes to bring awareness to the “rip-off merchants” involved in aged care and advocate for improved public transportation.
“You can’t just sit back and let everything wash over you,” she said.
“You’re not always going to win – I found that a very hard thing to contend with when I was first on council – but you’ve got to get out there and fight.
“I hope that I’ll be able to get something useful done. Getting old’s not for sissies.”
