The Centre’s One Size Does Not Fit All Podcast now available on Spotify, Apple and Google platforms

Visit News, Events and Media for more information

Read More

Sign up to our newsletter and keep up to date with latest news and events:

Please enter your full name.
Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter your organisation.
Please select your state.

Snapshot of diversity in residential aged care

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing is proud to announce the release of a new study ‘Ageing in Australia: country of birth and language preferences of residents in aged care facilities’. The study provides an overview of utilisation rates among people born in non-English-speaking countries and/or who have a preferred language other than English. The results demonstrate a substantial degree of cultural diversity among people living in residential aged care facilities across the nation with over 30,000 (18.3%) people living in residential facilities covering a significant number of countries of birth and languages. The findings confirm the need for a systematic, sector-wide approach to addressing linguistic diversity and for developing policies and procedures in order to cater to the needs and preferences of residents who were born in non-English-speaking countries and/or who prefer to speak a language other than English.

Published in the Australian Health Review, CSIRO Publishing, the paper can be accessed online.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information


 Acknowledgements

Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing acknowledges and pays respect to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, on whose land this website was developed. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their ancestors and elders, both past and present and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We hope our work contributes to the wider project of respect and recognition between cultures in Australia. Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing receives project funding from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care to administer the Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care (PICAC) program in Victoria.

 

Did you know?

Australia map
37%
37% of people aged 65 years and over in Australia were born overseas.
old people
400
There are over 400 separately identified languages spoken in Australian homes.
religion sign
120
Australians follow more than 120 religious and spiritual beliefs.
hands
28% & 20%
28% percent of people using home care and 20% percent of people using permanent residential care are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
workforce
36%
36% of care attendants in residential aged care are identified as being from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
australia map
250
Australia’s Indigenous peoples are two distinct cultural groups made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But there is great diversity within these two broadly described groups exemplified by the over 250 different language groups spread across the nation.