Leading Age Services Victoria chief Trevor Carr yesterday said the sector had “undersold ourselves” for 30 years and now needed to raise its policy and political profile.

And after getting the message out to professionals, it must ensure the community understood the issues.

Mr Carr was speaking at the annual conference and exhibition of Leading Age Services for Victoria, NSW and South Australia at Albury Entertainment Centre.

“In the next 10 years we are talking about 60,000 more residential care places costing about $30 billion and creating almost 80,000 jobs,” he said.

“They are big numbers and policy considerations, but they are needed to ensure service capability.

“This is one of Australia’s fastest growing industries because we have an ageing population.

“Its economic contribution is substantial which raises political, public and media interest.”

Mr Carr said he wanted delegates to take plenty of ideas with them back to their organisations.

“We need to use the same metrics everywhere and develop a profile at a local level,” he said.

“Political pressure starts on the ground.”

About 500 people are expected to attend the three-day event that started yesterday.