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Living Longer. Living Better.

Living Longer. Living Better – Older Australians from Diverse Backgrounds

Printable PDF version of Older Australians from Diverse Backgrounds (PDF 29 KB)

May 2012

Key Points:

Older people seeking to access aged care services are increasingly from diverse backgrounds and the needs and preferences of these people can be very different. Aged care services need to be sensitive to the diverse needs and backgrounds of individuals when delivering care and support.

As part of the Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package, the Government is expanding support for people with diverse needs to enable them to better access information and support from aged care providers who are more aware of and responsive to their needs.

The Government will provide $192.0 million over five years to better support older Australians from diverse backgrounds to access aged care services.

There are currently 675 places in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care program. The Living Longer Better aged care reform package provides $43.1 million to expand this program by an additional 200 aged care places to allow more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with complex high care needs to stay close to their home and country in culturally appropriate care.

The Government will provide $24.4 million to assist older Australians with diverse needs, their families and carers to access information and aged care services that are sensitive to their backgrounds. People who will be supported include those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless; people who are care leavers; and people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community.

In addition, the Government will provide $2.5 million to support older people from the LGBTI community by delivering specific sensitivity training for people who work in aged care. The Aged Care Principles 1997 will be amended to include people in the LGBTI community as a special needs group, to further enable access to appropriate care suitable to their needs.

Older homeless people and people at risk of homelessness can need additional support to link them to housing support and care services. The Government will provide $7.3 million to expand the Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged program to better link older Australians at risk of being homeless or who are homeless with suitable accommodation and care services.

The Government will provide $114.8 million for better services to veterans receiving Home Care packages, residential aged care and community based places within flexible aged care programs, as well as additional financial assistance to deliver more appropriate care to veterans who have an accepted mental health condition.

Implementation arrangements:

Grants to support people from diverse backgrounds to access aged care services will be made available from 2012-13.

From 1 July 2013, providers who care for eligible veterans will receive the additional funding.

Better support for Australians from diverse backgrounds

The Government is delivering on its commitment to make aged care reform a second term priority, with a reform package that provides $3.7 billion over the next five years. These reforms include a significant increase in support for people from diverse backgrounds. This includes $192.0 million over five years to better support people from diverse backgrounds.

This funding is on top of current initiatives, which include:

• A projected $112.5 million for the existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care program.
• A projected $35 million over five years to support people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to access information about aged care services and translation and interpreting services.

As part of the conversations on ageing held across Australia, the need for additional support for people from diverse backgrounds was commonly raised.
This included support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access more care in their communities, more support for people at risk of homelessness and better support for people working in aged care to understand the care needs of people from diverse backgrounds.

Further Information
For more information please visit: www.agedcareaustralia.gov.au