COTA SA welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Strategic Plan for Preventive Health Action 2026–2034.

We strongly support Preventive Health SA's vision of "Healthier South Australians across generations." It reflects an important recognition that prevention is a lifelong endeavour and that improving population health requires action across every stage of life, and for all ages, including older people.

COTA SA also welcomes the Plan's emphasis on the social determinants of health, health equity, lived experience, co-design, evidence-informed decision making and whole-of-government collaboration. Together, these provide a strong foundation for a preventive health system that is both effective and equitable.

As the peak body representing more than 700,000 South Australians aged over 50, we believe the draft Plan presents an opportunity to further strengthen this vision by embedding an ageing lens throughout the existing objectives and strategies. This is not about creating a separate stream of work for older people. Rather, it is about recognising that people experience preventive health differently as age intersects with other factors such as income, housing, disability, caring responsibilities, culture, geography, digital inclusion and social connection.

COTA SA strongly supports the Plan's commitment to health equity and its recognition that health outcomes are shaped by the environments in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.

We encourage Preventive Health SA to apply this same thinking to ageing.

Age itself is not a determinant of poor health, nor should ageing be viewed through a deficit lens. Most older South Australians are active contributors to their families, workplaces, communities and the economy. However, as people age, existing inequities can become compounded. Factors such as insecure housing, financial disadvantage, disability, limited transport options, caring responsibilities, digital exclusion and social isolation can interact with ageing to influence health outcomes and access to preventive health opportunities.

Applying an ageing lens across the Plan would strengthen its equity focus while remaining entirely consistent with its existing principles.

COTA SA believes the draft Strategic Plan provides a strong foundation for preventive health action in South Australia.

Its vision of Healthier South Australians across generations is one that we strongly support.

Embedding an ageing lens throughout the Plan would strengthen that vision by ensuring preventive health policy recognises the diversity of older South Australians and the ways in which ageing intersects with other social determinants of health.