Boost for culturally and linguistically diverse aged care

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PDF printable version of Boost for culturally and linguistically diverse aged care (PDF 16 KB)

15 December 2005
JB190/05

Older people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities across Australia will be able to access more than 1,300 new aged care places, the Minister for Ageing, Julie Bishop, said today at the announcement of the 2005 Aged Care Approvals Round.

"The new places include 700 that will provide care for older people in their own homes and local suburbs, plus 570 special places in residential care facilities," Ms Bishop said.

"Service organisations will deliver special care for older people to cater for many language groups, including those from China, Greece, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Korea, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Holland and Vietnam. Many of these services will provide care to people from more than one group."

Aged care places for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are being provided in NSW (489), Victoria (354), Queensland (241), WA (84), SA (105) and ACT (36).

"These places represent almost 12 per cent of all the new places we are allocating this year. They are an acknowledgement by the Australian Government of the significant cultural diversity that exists in the nation," Ms Bishop said.

"They also recognise the increasing desire of older Australians, from various culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, to receive on-going support from their particular local community.

"At the moment, one in five older Australians was born in a non-English speaking country. Over the next few decades, our older population will include proportionally more people with diverse cultural associations - expected to reach 25 per cent, up from 18 per cent per cent in 1996."

In the 2005 Aged Care Approvals Round of the Department of Health and Ageing, government support will be allocated to service organisations that show they understand the importance of culturally appropriate care.

"In many cases, the successful providers will already have strong links with local ethnic communities," Ms Bishop said. These places are part of a national allocation of more than 11,000 aged care places this year, bringing to more than 95,000 the total number of places allocated by the Howard Government since 1996.

Additional information is available at www.health.gov.au/acar2005

Media contact: Murray Hansen 0417 886 155