Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Assessment Organisations

About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations

From August 2025, a small number of existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations are offering aged care assessments for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This pilot is part of a phased rollout and over time, future phases will cover more areas across Australia. It aims to provide a choice for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access assessments led by First Nations aged care services.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years or over can apply for aged care services. Getting these services can help you to stay at home for longer.

If you ask for an assessment with one of these organisations, you can:

know that your assessment is being done in a culturally safe way
bring someone with you for support like a family member, friend, carer or support service like an Elder Care Support worker, care finder or Older Persons Advocacy Network advocate
use an interpreter to speak in your language.

You can also get an assessment through the existing Single Assessment System.

For extra support with aged care assessments and services, contact:

Pilot sites

Three organisations are participating in the pilot. They provide aged care assessments in 5 states and territories across metro, regional, remote and very remote areas.

The organisations cover some Aged Care Planning regions, including:

Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council Aboriginal Corporation

SA3 Flinders and Far North
NT Alice Springs
WA3 Goldfields
WA3 Pilbara

Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative

VIC 3 Campaspe LGA within Loddon Mallee
VIC 4 Hume

The Institute of Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH)

QLD 2 Sunshine Coast
QLD 2 Cabool

To find out if your region is covered, enter your postcode into the Interactive map of all aged care assessment organisations. You can also use the list of Single Assessment System list of assessment organisations.

How assessments work

Assessors in these organisations are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people or trained by the organisation to be culturally safe, trauma aware and healing informed.

They will:

use a yarning approach to assessments
offer face-to-face assessments, where possible
connect with the local community with their knowledge of local services and culture
allow for multiple visits, if required, to build trust and develop a relationship
reduce the need for the older person to re-tell their story multiple times
offer interpreting services to speak in language if needed and available
welcome family members or advocates, to be part of the meetings
collect information about the older person’s health and wellbeing to understand the aged care services they need.

How to register

Older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can register their preference for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care assessment organisation:

online through their My Aged Care account
over the phone with My Aged Care by calling 1800 200 422
through their GP
in-person at a Services Australia office
with an assessment organisation directly.

Older people can do this themselves or with help from a loved one, Elder Care Support worker, care finder, or an OPAN advocate.

If an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care assessment organisation isn’t available yet in your region

Older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can continue to receive an aged care assessment from any organisation in the Single Assessment System.

Support is available from Elder Care Support workers, care finders, or OPAN advocates to help you feel more culturally safe in your assessment. They can attend the assessment with you if needed and available.

If an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisation becomes available later, you can switch to one of these organisations for future assessments.

Why it is important

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found that older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience barriers in accessing aged care services. This prevents them from receiving the care they need.

This initiative provides another choice in the Single Assessment System for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in defining what is culturally safe for them.

These organisations will continue to help older people engage safely with the aged care system and help identify what support they need.

This will:

support more older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access aged care services
empower older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make informed decisions about the aged care they receive.

How to become an assessment organisation

A small number of existing organisations began assessments in August 2025 to test systems and processes before it expands further. This is to ensure that all the IT systems, onboarding and assessment processes, and outcomes, training and support systems are working well before expanding more broadly.

Organisations who are new to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care assessment pathway will form part of the next phase.

More information will become available once we gather learnings from the pilot.

Approaches to market to select suitable new organisations will be published on AusTender. These will be promoted in advance through aged care network. This will ensure interested organisations have time to ask questions. We will work with existing Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), and organisations that specialise in providing aged care services to older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to scale this initiative up nationally.

Further information will include:

timeframes for future phases
the requirements to become an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisation.

Who we work with

We have worked with an advisory group to help us develop the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment pathway, including:

We also have additional partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations who provide advice and feedback on behalf of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

We welcome the opportunity to speak to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care sector community groups. Please email us if you’d like the opportunity to connect.

Resources