From February 28 to March 7, Rina Okamoto, Assistant Director at CLAIR Sydney, interned at the City of Cockburn in Western Australia for 5 days. Cockburn is located in the southern part of Perth, and the surrounding regions such as Fremantle City and Perth City are fast developing as tourist areas. However, the region is focusing more of its efforts into developing the living environment for its citizens rather than focusing on tourism. In recent years, the population of the city has been on the increase, especially the number of elderly people. Rina was able to learn about the challenges faced by Cockburn in relation to an increase in its elderly population, which is similar to those faced by Japanese local governments. One of the solutions she came across was a comprehensive support facility providing a program on health, medical care and welfare, a one stop service concentrated in one place which might be applicable in Japan.
Rina would like to express her deepest appreciation to the City Mayor, Mr. Logan, and the Executive Manager, Ms. Margot, who kindly hosted her as an intern. She was deeply moved by their warm welcome and highly values the opportunities provided to her by all of the staff involved during her internship.
