Add to ORKGSpeech given to the Women's Agricultural Bureau, Burra, South Australia, 14th August, 1985 by Adam Graycar, Commissioner for the Ageing. This speech is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The structure of our elderly population is undergoing a dramatic change at the moment and our society is on the verge of some quite significant and monumental changes. At the beginning of this century life expectancy for males on average was 47 years - now it is 74 years. Life expectancy for females was 51 yrs - now it is 79 yrs. The important questions to ask relate to the quality of life and also to the appropriate social supports for people who are able to live longer