Australia

Abstract

Medical care for old people in Australia began in the obscurity of the original colonial society. Early European settlers in Australia were transported from England and penal colonies were established. The European background of local government was non-existent and no equivalent of the English Poor Laws of the 1830s was established. The care of the aged rested with each individual family, but for the ‘beginning’ assistance, provided by the early charity organistions which began to function in several of the colonies in the 1830s. Some of these charities were subsidised in part by colonial governments. The recipients of charitable aid were those judged as ‘worthy’ people and a punitive attitude was evident towards the elderly who were disabled and poor.