Representing the rights of those over 50

 Tina Hogarth-Clarke was previously the CEO of COTA Victoria after 14 years running her own aged care consultancy, assisting companies with strategy formulation, and offering advice to the general public looking for care. Before working in ageing and aged care, Tina spent 12 years in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries. 

Recently Tina was appointed to the Technical Advisory Committee of Energy Safe Victoria and to the Industry and Consumer Reference Group of Solar Victoria as a community representative committee member. She has been able to bring her skills, diverse network and experience in negotiating complex sectors, to support regulation and safety of the Victorian energy sector as well as initiatives to support Victorias electrification transition specifically in solar energy. Tina is this weeks Pro Bono Australia change maker. 

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to be involved in the aged care industry?

I started in pharmaceutical sales after graduating from University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Science Degree. I stayed in this sector until I started my own business Into Aged Care where I was a consultant that supported families as they negotiated their way through the aged care system. Mostly this entailed finding appropriate aged care homes. The role enabled me to get a bird’s eye view of the aged care industry as I worked closely with providers in order to negotiate on behalf of my clients. I was the bridge between providers and consumers, and I was uniquely positioned to see the issues in the system from both sides. I toured many facilities I asked many questions I learned the complexities of calculating aged care fees and the amount of paperwork that needed to be completed to enter care. It was where I also learned about ageism and its insidious manifestation elder abuse. The longer I stayed working in the sector the more I wanted to be a part of changing it for the better. I worked with an entrepreneur and disruptor and was a part of the steering committee to set up a model which shook up the sector and how ordinary Australians access and negotiate aged care. CareAbout was the result and pleasingly it is going from strength to strength supporting thousands of people each year to travel the aged care path. Around the same time, I and a few other stalwarts in the sector set up a peak body association to support consultants in aged care and to set a benchmark for professionalism and integrity within the cohort. This too has grown and now operates nationally. I wanted to understand how to influence at a national government level and how policy was developed so applied for a board role at COTA Victoria. I served as a director of COTA Victoria for 9 months when I then became their CEO. I sort of moved out of the aged care sector and entered the community services sector with a focus on older Victorians experiencing disadvantage. Although familiar it was also very different and so another very steep learning curve.  I really felt like we made a difference to the lives of older Victorians. COTA Victorias largest program was a specialist community legal centre that addressed elder abuse.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenges I have encountered is that I really haven’t had a career in the traditional sense. I have worked in roles that have interested me that I thought I had skill and experience enough to do but where I will learn something new. I like to feel like I have purpose and meaning in my role and that I am making a difference to someone or hopefully many peoples lives. This has meant when I feel my time is done and I have contributed I start to look for my what’s next. The challenge has been to take my skills and experience and transfer them to a new sector. I managed to do that once but that was due to the fact I started my own business it much harder to convince others that despite not having worked in the sector I can perform the role. There are a few causes that interest me and I feel drawn to that are not aged care or ageing related. I’m yet to overcome it but maybe volunteering in those causes is the answer.

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?

Keep pushing, don’t panic, its all going to work out. I don’t think I would change a thing about how I worked and where I worked what I studied along the way. I’ve always done things that interest me and where I think can make a difference so yeah the advice would be keeping forging ahead, don’t panic it’s going to be fine. 

Why have you stayed in the aged care industry?

Thats a very good question. Why have I stayed? In a way its hard to leave even if I wanted to, but I also don’t think I want to. I will be an older person one day, we all will if we are lucky to live long lives. I think about how I want to be treated and what I might need as I age and this spurs me on to do better for my clients. To do better for all Australians as they age means addressing ageism and all of its manifestations.  I don’t understand why we as a society don’t value our older people. They have lived eventful lives in times that were different from the one we now live in, they have knowledge and skills but best of all they have amazing stories to tell. At the very least we need to acknowledge them and treat them with the respect they deserve and have earned. I don’t have parents anymore nor do I have grandparents. I miss not being able to check in with them ask them for advice, tell them about my day and hear about theirs. I cherish my role in the aged care sector that looks at ways to prevent ageism but also to prevent isolation and loneliness that comes when society doesn’t show that they value you any more.

Take us through a typical day of work for you.

A typical day at work generally starts with me arriving at the Balwyn Evergreen Centre between 8-8.30am turning on the computer and going to make myself a coffee. Emails both answering and sending occupies a large part of my day but I have a system in place that helps control that. Our centre is extremely busy and my office is close to the front door so I spend a lot of time chatting to our volunteers and clients hearing their stories listening to their ideas for improvement (some may call them complaints but I see any feedback as opportunities for improvement whether they are positive or negative). The motto I’m working on installing at Balwyn Evergreen is “we can always do better”. Even if we are doing really well, we can always do better. It’s easy to be distracted with all of the goings on and so find my actual work output is done after 4pm each day. If we have a cooking class or lunch on, I will get a knock on my door and a delicious plate will be put on my desk. I am very lucky to be working at Balwyn Evergreen, I genuinely love my job, enjoy the company of staff, volunteers and clients. Every day is different, brings new faces to my door and even if it sometimes challenges me, always brings me joy. I read financial statements and work on the running of the business to the click click of a table tennis ball, a chorus of signing voices or the happy mummers and out loud laughter of clients finishing an activity. Hearing and seeing the everyday impact we have on people’s lives is why I come to work each morning full of anticipation and leave with a smile each night.

How do you unwind after work?

After work I can be seen walking around my neighbourhood with my partner and our 9 year old Beagle Sasha. The weekends are spent in our garden taming the growth and weeds and our vegie patch and orchard coaxing the plants to produce food. I’m also a big reader and need to read before I can go off to sleep. I find it stills my mind which spends the day racing with ideas, to do lists and conversations I have had or need to have. I also enjoy dinner with friends and family.

What was the last thing you watched, read or listened to? 

I’m currently reading This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes and watching the second series of Annika on ABC.