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The Department of Health and Aged Care have released the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Framework 2025-2035

Access the framework here.

This framework establishes a 2035 vision for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to age well by having their spiritual, physical and mental health needs met through holistic, high-quality and culturally safe aged care. This care should promote wellbeing, deliver trauma aware and healing informed responses and empower connection to culture, family, community and Country or Island Home.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Framework (the Framework) outlines actions that aim to achieve significant improvements to the aged care experience for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Framework is importantly person-centred and underpinned by the new rights-based Aged Care Act. It affirms the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and embraces holistic concepts of health, social and emotional wellbeing and quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which is grounded in self-determination and connections to community, culture and Country and/or Island Home.

The Framework sets out aged care reforms under 5 measurable outcomes:

• Outcome One: Culturally safe and responsive access to aged care
• Outcome Two: Culturally safe, accurate and prioritised assessment
• Outcome Three: Culturally safe aged care services in community
• Outcome Four: More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care providers
• Outcome Five: A larger Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce.

For each outcome are, the report identifies current state, targets, outcomes, actions, timeframes for impact, and status of actions.

These outcomes are underpinned by four guiding principles that closely align with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap:

1. Genuine partnership and shared decision-making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and communities on aged care reforms.
2. Prioritise Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations and increase their participation in the aged care sector.
3. All mainstream institutions, government agencies and stakeholders in the aged care system are accountable to deliver better aged care outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
4. Evidence based on the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be used to drive aged care reform for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.