About AHAO- Our Story

“We are living longer; we want to live better”

In 2014, Australian Healthy Ageing Organisation’s (AHAO) founding team was looking for an organisation which advocated for healthy ageing.  The reason for the absence of such an Australian organisation was revealed during pro bono contributions from lawyers in setting up this new health promotion charity.

Lawyer: “Which disease are you nominating for health promotion?”

AHAO founders: “This is not a disease focused charity – in fact it’s the opposite, it is a charity to promote healthy ageing and quality of life.” 

AHAO was formed in 2014 in Melbourne, Australia as a registered not-for-profit organisation to facilitate and inspire healthy ageing (from birth to beyond) through advocacy, community engagement and driving research to improve quality of life in ageing.

AHAO brings together healthcare professionals, community members, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and people passionate about advancing healthy ageing.  We are not focussed on disease, we are focussed on health and ability and maintaining the best quality of life in ageing from birth to beyond.  AHAO believes that by focusing on function and quality of life, we will raise the profile of healthy ageing and awareness that a large part of ageing is accrual from childhood through midlife.  Through this our broader goal is to improve the wellbeing of current and future generations.

Our strategic pillars are:
Advocacy. To advocate for changes to improve the quality of life for people as they age as a human right.

Partnerships. To engage the community in heath conversations on healthy ageing and build community awareness.

Research. To drive and influence research related to healthy ageing.