Cassie Robb

While camping with her family for the annual raft race, Frankie (11) is suddenly thrust into awareness of her developing body and how the world will perceive her.

When director Sue Thomson’s 89-year-old mum, Margaret, begins to need additional help with day-to-day life, they face a decision that most families will encounter: whether to consider a residential aged-care facility; and, if so, how to find a suitable one amid a sector with a reputation for neglect and mistreatment. Margaret’s story becomes a springboard for an investigation of the political history of aged care in Australia, marred by a 40-year bipartisan privatisation agenda. As we hear from advocates, journalists and senior citizens who have experienced the system, a group of schoolkids discuss the situation we’ve reached with aged care and where we need to go from here – and of what they, and we, can expect in the future.