Australia's oldest person is knitting jumpers for penguins to protect them from oil spills

They say you're never too old to help save the planet and it seems Alfred Date – Australia's oldest person – is living proof.

The 109-year-old, known as Alfie, is knitting tiny jumpers for penguins on Phillip Island – 80 miles south-east of Melbourne – to protect them from oil spills.

He heeded the call from the Penguin Foundation, which wants to protect the penguins from swallowing the oil when trying to clean themselves.

The last major oil spill happened near the island in 2001 - affecting 436 little penguins. Ninety-six per cent were saved and rehabilitated at the Wildlife Clinic and put back into the wild.

The same day Date arrived at his nursing home in Umina he was approached by staff to offer up his skills.

"The two girls [nurses] come in to me and say 'we believe you can knit'. I like to make them without mistakes and I don't excuse myself for doing it.

"[But] I think there is an excuse for a person who's gone beyond the normal span of life."

Date started knitting in 1932 after his sister-in-law taught him the craft.

The foundation describes Date their "most senior little penguin jumper knitter," but they did not know he was also Australia's oldest citizen.

"It's amazing and we feel quite privileged to have him dedicating his time and effort to the Penguin Foundation," a spokesperson told Nine News.

The foundation on its website has thanked keen knitters who have donated penguin jumpers but has said it does not need any further donations at this time.