Our Impact
Helping people stay active, connected and confident
At Seniors in Melbourne, we believe exploring your city shouldn’t become harder with age.
Our purpose is to help older Victorians and visitors discover experiences that build confidence and encourage connection with the places around them. From regional day trips and live music to accessible attractions and quiet corners of the city, we want more people to feel comfortable exploring everything Melbourne and Victoria have to offer.
We’re building a business that balances commercial sustainability with genuine community impact. Every partnership, article and initiative is guided by one question: does this genuinely help our audience and the communities we feature?
Seniors in Melbourne is written and edited by Amy Gardner, who founded the site to help older Victorians explore with confidence.
Supporting local communities
We believe tourism should benefit local people as well as visitors.
That’s why we shine a spotlight on small businesses, regional destinations, community organisations and cultural experiences that make Victoria unique. Encouraging visitors to explore beyond the obvious helps direct spending into local communities and supports experiences that deserve a wider audience.
Championing accessibility and inclusion
Everyone deserves the confidence to explore.
Accessibility is considered throughout our content. We cover public transport options, walking distances, mobility considerations, quieter visiting times and Seniors Card discounts as standard, not as an afterthought.
We regularly feature organisations working to make Melbourne more accessible, including our ongoing partnership with Travellers Aid, sharing practical information that helps more people take part in city life.
We are currently in discussions with Vision Australia Radio, a national print disability radio service supporting the information needs of people who are blind, have low vision or live with a print disability. As part of these chats, we are exploring opportunities to share Seniors in Melbourne’s articles and content across the Vision Australia Radio network, helping make this valuable information more accessible to people who may otherwise be unable to access it in its original format.
Inclusion and cultural connection
Melbourne’s stories belong to everyone who’s lived them, and we want our coverage to reflect that.
Our contributors range across their 60s, 70s and 80s, and bring a wide mix of cultural backgrounds, faiths and life experiences to what we publish, including LGBTQIA+ elders writing about their own communities and events.
We are also proud to work with organisations across the cultural and community sector to bring readers accessible, welcoming experiences they might not otherwise discover.
Giving back
As our business grows, we want our impact to grow with it.
Each quarter, we partner with a Victorian charity or community organisation through our Community Giveback program, sharing their story with our readers while making a financial contribution ourselves. We also encourage our community to donate, volunteer or simply help spread awareness.
At Christmas, our annual Meaningful Charity Gifts Guide helps readers support registered charities through gifts that make a genuine difference, and promotes informed giving through ACNC-registered organisations.
Advocacy beyond our content
Our commitment to older Victorians extends beyond what we publish.
Amy is a proud supporter and steering committee member of EveryAGE Counts, campaigning against ageism, and volunteers with Elder Rights Australia. Seniors in Melbourne is also a member of Council on the Ageing (COTA) Victoria.
Amy also takes an active role within the tourism industry itself, sitting on the Board of the Australian Society of Travel Writers and holding membership with the Victorian Tourism Industry Council, Melbourne City Precinct Association and Young Tourism Network, bringing an accessible, age-inclusive perspective into broader industry conversations. We’re a member of Zero Waste Victoria too, reflecting our commitment to more sustainable tourism practices.
Investing in people
Seniors in Melbourne is built by experienced writers, photographers and contributors who bring decades of local knowledge and lived experience to every story.
Creative work has value. Wherever possible, we pay our team fairly and continue investing in quality content that stays free for our readers.
Impact at a glance
319 free articles published, including 35 regional Victoria guides 4,000 newsletter subscribers, with a 61% average open rate and 19% click-through rate 80,500 average page views per quarter, 46,000 active users per quarter 5,000 followers across social platforms.
Looking ahead
Our ambition is to grow Seniors in Melbourne into a purpose-led tourism business that creates lasting value for both visitors and the Victorian community. As we grow, we’ll keep strengthening our commitment to:
- helping older people stay active, connected and engaged
- supporting accessible and inclusive tourism
- promoting local businesses and regional communities
- covering Victoria’s cultural diversity and First Nations stories
- reinvesting in free resources that make exploring Melbourne easier
- expanding our community giveback program and measuring our impact properly
Tourism works best when it benefits everyone involved — visitors, local businesses and the communities that welcome them. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to.
