Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care

About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations

A small number of existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations have started offering aged care assessments from August 2025.

This pilot is part of a phased rollout and over time, future phases will cover more areas across Australia.

These organisations provide older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:

an improved assessment experience
options to stay at home for longer
more choice when seeking culturally safe aged care assessment.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment pathway aims to increase the uptake of aged care services for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can also receive aged care needs assessments through the existing Single Assessment System supported by Elder Care Support workers, care finders and OPAN (Older Persons Advocacy Network) advocates.

The pilot sites

There are 3 organisations commencing in a few regions as part of the pilot.

They will provide aged care assessments across five states and territories across metro, regional, remote and very remote areas.

The pilot organisations (and their Aged Care Planning regions) are:

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

SA2 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 Urban Institute of 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. These organisations can also be found on the list of Single Assessment System list of assessment organisations.

How assessments will work

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

They will:

take a less formal 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
minimise the need for the older person to re-tell their story multiple times
provide interpreting services if needed
welcome the older person's family member, or advocate, 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 when they:

register with My Aged Care via phone or face-to-face channels
talk to an assessment organisation directly.

From November 2025, they’ll also be able to register this preference online using the My Aged Care Online portal. They can do this themselves or with help from a loved one, Elder Care Support worker, care finder, or OPAN advocate.

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

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 Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) advocates to help the older person feel more culturally safe. They can attend the assessment with the older person, if needed and available.

If an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisation becomes available later, people can choose to switch 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 to accessing aged care services, which can prevent them from receiving the care they need.

This initiative will help address Royal Commission recommendations to provide culturally safe aged care assessment services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care assessment 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 decide on the care they need and receive.

How to become an assessment organisation

a small number of existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations have commenced from August 2025 – this is to ensure that all the IT systems, onboarding processes, 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 learnings have been gathered from Phase 1 – the approaches to market to select suitable new organisations will be published on Austender, promoted in advance through aged care networksand will allow time for interested organisations to ask questions.

We will work with existing ACCOs, 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 be provided, including:

more information on the timeframes for future Phases
the requirements to become an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisation.

Who we work with

We have partnered with an advisory group to design the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment pathway, including:

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing and Aged Care Council
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
National Indigenous Australians Agency.

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 get in touch with our inbox if you’d like the opportunity to connect.

More information

More guidance and resource will be available from October 2025.

Resources

Supporting clients with the rollout of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations

Information for Care Finders, OPAN advocates and Elder Care Support Workers to support them prior to the rollout of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations.

Contact

For more information, email firstnationsagedcareassessment@health.gov.au.

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