About the AAG

A Short History of AAG

• The following "History of the AAG" has been compiled by Janet Angel, with contributions from Dr Anna Howe, Professor Gary Andrews, Ruth Inall and Professor Arthur Everitt. This document, formatted to A4 size for printing, is also available here ...
• See also "History of The Australian Association of Gerontology" by Arthur V. Everitt, presented at the AAG 2004 National Conference. This document is available here ...
  

FOUNDATIONS AND FOUNDERS

1950s - the beginnings

Dr David Wallace, a physician from Goulburn in New South Wales (NSW), is primarily credited with founding the national association known as the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG). After attending the 4th International Congress of Gerontology in Italy in 1957, Dr Wallace returned to Australia with the aim of setting up an Australian Society of Gerontology. After extensive investigation, Dr Wallace concluded that there were, at that time, only six people in the whole of Australia who had a significant interest in Gerontology.

Some 50 years later, the AAG has over 700 members. This history records the events and the people who have shaped the growth and development of the AAG over that time.

1960s - the foundations

The foundations of the Australian Association of Gerontology were laid on 5 July 1962 when Dr Geoffrey Hughes, the Medical Superintendent at Lidcombe State Hospital, and Dr Arthur Everitt, from The University of Sydney, established the Gerontological Society of New South Wales. Dr Hughes became the founding President and Dr Everitt was the founding Secretary/Treasurer. There were initially 33 members.

In 1963, Dr Sidney Sax and Sir Giles Chippendall, President of the National Old Peoples Welfare Council, also inspired by attending an international Conference (this time in Copenhagen), worked with Dr David Wallace to establish the Australian Association of Gerontology. The Inaugural National Conference of the AAG was held at the Australian National University in Canberra in June 1964. Sir John Eccles, a Nobel Prize winner, gave the inaugural address on the Physiology of Ageing. A listing of the 47 members present at the Inaugural National Conference is available here ...  These included Ruth Inall, who has gone on to have 40 years as an active AAG member at the national and international levels. At its Annual General Meeting in 1999, the AAG awarded Foundation Member certificates to Ruth and the other eight surviving founding members.

Becoming a National Body

Growth of State Divisions
It was almost 20 years before every state and territory came to have a Division of the AAG. Three states established independent associations that subsequently became Divisions of the national association:

In all other states and territories Divisions were directly established by the AAG:

• South Australia, 9 April 1972
• Western Australia, 14 June 1972
• Tasmania, 3 September 1973
• Northern Territory, 17 April 1991
• Australian Capital Territory, 23 October 1991

PRESIDENTS

Four of the founding members became Presidents of the AAG. Dr Sidney Sax was the first president, followed by Dr Dick Gibson, then Dr David Wallace, and later Dr Richard Lefroy. The AAG has always been a multidisciplinary society, although in the early years medical gerontology was dominant and the majority of members were medical doctors or nurses. The first woman President, in 1980, was Dr Glenda Powell, a physician from Brisbane. The first President who was not a medical practitioner was Bess McRae, a nurse, who became President in 1985.

The contributions of these early presidents are recognised by:

SECRETARIES AND SECRETARIATS

Dr David Wallace was the first Honorary Secretary and was succeeded by Professor Gary Andrews. Ruth Inall (NSW) was Honorary Secretary of the AAG for about 20 years, from 1967 to 1985. Assoc. Prof Arthur Everitt (NSW) was Honorary Secretary in 1985/86 and was followed by Marion Shaw (Vic) who held the position from 1986 to 1994. Charles Young (SA), Roger Rumble(Tas), Chris Shanley (NSW) and Evonne Miller (Qld) have successively taken on the role.

In 1994 the Association established its first professional secretariat and contracted the Flinders University Centre for Ageing Studies to provide administrative services. Dianne Langridge was the AAG Secretariat Officer until November 2005. The contract for the AAG Secretariat was transferred to Association Offices in 2005, and to Office Logistics in 2008.

In 2004, the AAG was funded by the Commonwealth Office for an Ageing Australia (OFAA) to support the appointment of an Executive Officer for a period of two years. Janet Angel was appointed to this position in September 2004. Funding for this position was extended for a further two years, and Karen Robinson was nominated as AAG Executive Officer from 2006-2008.  In 2009, Dr Tony Coles was appointed AAG Executive Officer for a period of three years, once again funded by OFAA.

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ROLES

International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics

In 1972 at the International Congress held in Kiev, a formal bid was made by the AAG and the recently formed Australian Geriatrics Society to host the 1978 World Congress. Although this bid was not accepted, it placed Australia squarely on the map in terms of international participation.

Australia hosted the16th IAGG World Congress in Adelaide in 1997, with video satellite links to pre-Congress events in Honolulu and Singapore. Professor Andrews who had led the bid to host the Congress, and was also AAG President at the time, became President of the IAGG from 1998 to 2001, and Professor Mary Luszcz became Vice President and Secretary General for the same term.

Asia-Oceania Region of the IAGG

The first Regional Congress was held in Melbourne in December 1980. When Dr Gibson died suddenly in July 1980, Professor Gary Andrews took over as Regional Chair and served in this role for 10 years. Professor Andrews and Mrs Inall played a major role in organising the next two regional conferences - Singapore in 1983 and Bangkok in 1987. They also assisted many nations in the region to set up associations, including developing draft constitutions. Regional Conferences were held in Yokahama (1991), Hong Kong (1995), Seoul (1999) and Tokyo (2003).

The regional body has had its permanent administrative office in Australia, which continued to be managed by Ruth Inall as Executive Secretary. In recognition of her service to the IAGG, Ruth Inall was awarded the IAGG Presidential Medal, and in 2005 she was presented with a plaque commemorating her 25 years service with the Region.

The United Nations and the World Assemblies on Ageing

At the IAGG 1997 International Congress in Adelaide, a joint UN Office on Ageing and IAGG project, the Research Agenda on Ageing for the 21st Century, was established with Gary Andrews representing IAGG and Alexandre Sidorenko from the UN as joint conveners. A series of high level expert global and regional meetings were held from 1999 to 2005 resulting in the published Agenda being presented to the second World Assembly in Madrid in 2002. A series of regional follow-up reports are expected to be published with an up-dated Agenda later in 2006. These meetings across the globe were all organised and administered by the AAG Secretariat and Event Organising Office at the Centre for Ageing Studies in Adelaide. A number of AAG members made contributions to these activities.

The Valencia Forum, a major pre-World Assembly gathering of scientists, educators and practitioners (620 registrants) convened for the purpose of providing the scientific evidence base for the deliberations of the World Assembly on Ageing, was convened by Gary Andrews under IAGG auspice.

RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS

Over the years, the AAG has instigated a number of ways of recognising outstanding contributions of its members to achieving the Association's goal of advancing knowledge of ageing.

Life Membership is the highest honour conferred by the AAG. The number of Life Members at any one time is limited to just one percent of the membership. A total of 12 Life Memberships have been awarded. A listing of Life Members is available here ...  

Distinguished Service Awards were introduced in 1999. These Awards are made on the nomination of State Divisions. Across all Divisions, 69 members had received Distinguished Service Awards to 2005. A listing of Distinguished Service Awards is available here ...  

Fellows of the AAG were also established in 1999 to recognise members' achievements in scholarship in Gerontology. Members apply for recognition as a Fellow of the AAG on the basis of meeting a number of criteria, including contributions to AAG conferences and publication in the Australasian Journal on Ageing. Applications are reviewed by State Executives and approved by the National Council on the recommendation of State Divisions. By 2005, 59 members had been recognised as Fellows. A listing of Fellows is available here ...  

PUBLICATIONS

Proceedings of Annual Conferences

In 2005, presenters at the Annual Conference were given the option of submitting a full paper for peer review and publication by the AAG. In 2005 and 2006, there were thirty papers published by the AAG which have been made available through the website and on Compact Discs.

Australasian Journal on Ageing

The Australian Society for Geriatric Medicine became a third partner in the new publication, and in 1998, Aged and Community Services Australia became a fourth partner. Alzheimer's Australia is also involved as an Associate Partner.

The members of the Editorial Board are drawn from across the Asia-Oceania Region, and in recognition of its regional coverage, the name was changed to the Australasian Journal on Ageing in 1998 (from Vol. 17, No. 1). The AJA has achieved international recognition with a high ranking on international citation and impact indexes.

The AJA went on-line in 2004 (from Volume 23, No. 1). This advance came with publication of the journal moving to Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

More information about the Australasian Journal on Ageing can be found here ...  

AAG National Newsletter
The AAG's beginning was marked by the publication of the first Newsletter of the Association, in March 1965. This early National Newsletter was published until 1969. Over the next two decades, newsletters were intermittent or published by State Divisions. A national newsletter was reinstated in August 1996. Adelaide Bornmann (NSW) was Executive Editor until the production of the Newsletter moved to the Secretariat, with the Executive Officer having the role of Executive Editor.

Copies of available newsletters can be found here ...

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Student Section

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing Committee

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing Committee held its inaugural meeting in November 2004, and was formally established in May 2005. The Committee was an initiative of Professor Tony Broe (AAG President, 2003-2006) who has had a long-standing involvement in the provision of health services to Aboriginal communities, especially through his work in the La Perouse community in Sydney. The Committee holds quarterly telephone link-ups and regional meetings. The first Convenor is Dr Lisa Jackson Pulver, Senior Lecturer (Development and Research), Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of NSW.

WIDER NETWORKS

The AAG mission is about research, education and multi-disciplinary networks, and the Association has actively participated in the development of various networks with a focus on ageing.

Australian Society for Geriatric Medicine
In October 1972, physician members of the AAG established an Australian Geriatrics Society, now the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM), as a separate body to further the development and recognition of geriatric medicine. Professor Gary Andrews was appointed as President. Initially the new Society worked closely and held concurrent meeting with the AAG, but by 1975 it had been accepted as a Specialist Society of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. The ANZSGM is now an active specialist medical association and has many members in common with the AAG, as well as being a partner in publishing the Australasian Journal on Ageing.

Building Ageing Research Capacity (BARC)

The AAG was an active contributor to each of these projects under the leadership of President Barbara Squires (NSW), and the active involvement of Professor Gary Andrews (SA), Professor Hal Kendig (NSW), Professor Tony Broe (NSW), Dr Dianne Gibson (ACT), as well as other members.

Ageing Research Network and Directory
In November 1983, a meeting of researchers was held at the then National Research Institute of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine (now the National Ageing Research Institute) immediately prior to the AAG Annual Conference in Hobart to foster discussion of planning and collaboration in research. Convened by Dr Anna Howe and attended by 41 researchers, the meeting led to the publication of the Ageing Research Network Directory in 1984. The Directory was published triennially to 1996, and again in 2000.

In September 2003, the Directory became much more accessible to those making entries and searching for research when it was launched as Ageing Research Online (www.aro.gov.au). This development came about through BARC, with the on-line directory managed by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, Office for an Ageing Australia.

The ARC/NHMRC Research Network in Ageing Well
The ARC/NHMRC Research Network in Ageing Well is an 'Ageing Well, Ageing Productively' initiative funded for five years by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), as part of their Research Networks Program. With the aim of linking outstanding researchers from many disciplines, nurturing developing researchers, promoting projects between social and health researchers, and strengthening international collaboration, the Network complements the AAG by drawing on the expertise of AAG members in its management committee and advisory groups, and by organising collaborative activities and projects.

Emerging Researchers in Ageing
Encouraging postgraduate research in ageing was taken up by Professor Helen Bartlett at the Australasian Centre for Ageing at the University of Queensland in convening the first Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA) conference in 2002. ERA has grown to become a national conference, and although originally a completely separate conference from the AAG, the 2005 and 2006 ERA conferences were held the day before the AAG National Conference, maximising the opportunity for students to participate in both conferences.

AAG ARCHIVES

For many years, much AAG archival material was compiled by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax and then Mrs Marion Shaw, both of the Victorian Division. Dr Arthur Everitt has also been an AAG historian, and the paper that he published with Marion Shaw on The Formation of Gerontological Societies in Australia, in the Australian Journal on Ageing, Vol. 16, No. 2, May 1997, proved an invaluable source on the early years of the history of the AAG.

This history of the AAG will be updated annually after the National Conference and Annual General Meeting to record major developments that have taken place each year and the roles of those involved in these advances.