The Beyond Age Project | Victorian Seniors Festival 2025

Seniors Rights Victoria and COTA Victoria's Beyond Age project asks members of the community to reflect upon their lives to showcase different experiences of ageing.

As part of the project, community members will attend workshops -- like this one as part of the Victorian Seniors Festival 2025 -- to couple a photo from their past with one from their present. They’ll then provide advice about getting older to their younger self.

In workshops and beyond, participants will be encouraged to have conversations about respecting and preserving the dignity of older people, and to continue the campaign against ageist attitudes.

The project focusses on challenging ageist attitudes and promoting respect for older people. By shifting societal attitudes and emphasising the value of age, we can work towards a safer and more inclusive society for older people and combat ageism as one of the significant drivers of elder abuse.

This event is capped at 25 attendees, so registration is essential. Attendees are also required to bring a photo of themselves at a younger age (in your teens or up to late-20s preferred; see the header at top for an example).

Requirements

A photographer will be in attendance to take individual photos of each person attending the workshop. To take part, you'll be required to:

• Attend the Beyond Age workshop on 9 October.

• Be willing and consent to images of yourself being used in a public campaign Beyond Age, which aims to reduce ageism in the community.

• Each person attending the workshop is required to bring with them a photo of when they were in their late teens through to their late 20s. This will be scanned by staff on the day and returned to the participant.

• Each person attending the workshop will be photographed by a photographer. This image will be used with the person’s photo of when they were younger.

• Sign a consent form which will allow COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria to use images and verbal quotes from participants at the workshop in the Beyond Age campaign. 

Participation and attendance at the workshop are voluntary. We reserve the right not to process storyboards with imagery or text that we deem inappropriate, not in the spirit of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, or not in the spirit of our Code of Conduct. We may also need to amend your quote for content or to fit our storyboard; amendments will be clearly marked.

To find out more about Beyond Age, contact Gary Ferguson, Education Coordinator, Seniors Rights Victoria by telephone on 9655 2112 or 0407 329 290.