What we're doing about dementia

Dementia affects thousands of Australians and their families every year. We fund dementia research, initiatives and programs to support people living with dementia, their families and carers.

National Dementia Action Plan

We have developed a new National Dementia Action Plan in collaboration with state and territory governments. It is Australia’s national dementia policy framework. It aims to improve the lives and care of people living with dementia, their carers and families over the next 10 years.

Programs

We fund dementia programs to support people living with dementia, their families and carers.

For more information, see the list of initiatives and programs relating to dementia.

Research

We fund dementia research to make sure we have the evidence we need to make better decisions.

Aged care measures

Our initiatives and programs support people living with dementia and their carers at every stage – from diagnosis through to residential aged care. These measures aim to:

  • improve dementia diagnosis and early intervention
  • increase respite and support for informal carers
  • improve the capacity and quality of dementia care.

This will ensure that people living with dementia are:

  • connected with the support they need after their diagnosis
  • enabled to remain in their home for longer
  • able to access high quality, dementia informed aged care services.

For more information, see our dementia initiatives and programs.

To help shape aged care reforms and stay informed, register for engagement activities on the Ageing and Aged Care Engagement Hub.

Dementia Expert Reference Group

The Dementia Expert Reference Group provides us with expert insight and feedback to support monitoring and continuous improvements of dementia policy, programs and activities.

National Dementia Action Plan

We are developing a new National Dementia Action Plan in collaboration with state and territory governments. It will provide short, medium and long-term actions over the next 10 years to improve the wellbeing and quality of life for people living with dementia, their carers and families. 

Public consultation on the draft plan has now closed, but you can still read the consultation papers online.

It is anticipated the the plan will be in place in 2024.

Date last updated:
Tags: 

Help us improve health.gov.au

If you would like a response please use the enquiries form instead.