Conference Program
The Ageing Australia National Conference 2026 program brings together leaders, innovators, aged care professionals and industry partners from across the sector to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping aged care, retirement living and seniors housing.
Guided by this year’s theme, Together We Can, the program will feature a diverse range of perspectives, insights and practical ideas designed to inspire new thinking, share knowledge and support meaningful progress across the sector.
With a program spanning key industry issues, emerging trends, innovation and real-world experiences, delegates will have opportunities to learn from one another, challenge perspectives and build valuable connections.
Together, we can strengthen collaboration, celebrate the work being done across the sector and explore ways to improve outcomes for older Australians. Whether you’re looking to gain fresh insights, discover new approaches or connect with colleagues and sector partners, the National Conference is an opportunity to come together and make a difference.
Day one - Tuesday 24 November 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Plenary Session 1 | |||
| 9am | Conference Opening | ||
9.05am | Welcome to Conference | ||
| 9.20am | Official Opening of Conference | ||
| 9.25am | Opening Keynote | ||
10.05am | Aged Care: The Next Chapter | ||
10.35am | Morning Tea | ||
Plenary session 2 | |||
| 11.20am | Keynote Session | ||
11.55am | Together We Can Redefine Ageing | ||
12.45pm | Lunch | ||
Concurrent session A | |||
A1 – Financial Sustainability and Support at Home | |||
2.15pm | Surprising Trends in the Home Care Market: Pricing, Performance and the New Shape of Viability | ||
2.45pm | What Does Your Operating Model Cost? Modelling the Trade-Offs in In-Home Aged Care | ||
3.15pm | Building Viability to Continue: A Defensive Strategy for Support at Home | ||
A2 – Innovative Technology in Practice | |||
2.15pm | Robotics With a Heart: Two Real-World Case Studies in How Aged Care Providers Are Tackling Loneliness Through Frontier Technology Brian McCarthy, Chief Commercial Officer, Andromeda Robotics | ||
2.45pm | Seeing Without Watching: Using Radar Technology to Predict Health Decline Before It Becomes a Crisis | ||
3.15pm | Closing the Security Gap: Bringing Cyber, Operational and Physical Security Together in Aged Care | ||
A3 – Rights, Choice and Consumer Voice | |||
2.15pm | Decades In the Making: Rethinking Older Women’s Access, Choice and Security in Aged Care | ||
2.45pm | Rights in Action: Living the Statement of Rights Every Day | ||
3.15pm | Sex and Intimacy in Aged Care: Rights, Consent and SIRS | ||
A4 – The Unexpected Lens | |||
2.15pm | Beyond Compliance: What Can Aged Care Learn from Mining, Infrastructure and Critical Industries? | ||
2.45pm | Cost of Climate in Aged Care – Examining Care, Workforce and Sustainability Impacts and Looking at What We Can Do | ||
3.15pm | Dementia and Menopause – Together We Can Change the Conversation | ||
A5 – Care Models and Clinical Practice | |||
2.15pm | Embedding Equity in Aged Care: Lessons from Australia's Not-for-Profit Providers | ||
2.45pm | When Every Day Matters: Embedding the Last 1000 Days into Everyday Aged Care | ||
315pm | Building Dementia Capability Where It Matters Most – Translating Specialist Expertise into Practical Support for People, Families and Care Teams | ||
A6 – Capital, Property and Infrastructure | |||
2.15pm | Better Buildings, No Extra Cost | ||
2.45pm | The Care Behind the Care: Aligning Property, Facilities and Asset Management with the New Aged Care Quality Standards | ||
3.15pm | From Shopping Centres to Ageing Services: How an Outsider Perspective Sparked Innovation in Regional Aged Care | ||
A7 – Integrated Health and Aged Care | |||
2.15pm | Unlocking Capacity: How Health and Aged Care Must Work Together | ||
2.45pm | Innovative Hybrid Model of Care Significantly Reduces Hospital Admissions in Residential Aged Care | ||
3.15pm | Earlier Intervention: A National Model Improving Access to Care and Clinical Outcomes in Aged Care | ||
3.45pm | Afternoon Tea | ||
Plenary Session 3 | |||
4.30pm | CommonAGE Report | ||
4.35pm | International Panel Session | ||
5.15pm | Welcome Reception | ||
Day Two - Wednesday 25 November 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Plenary Session 4 | |||
| 9am | Welcome to Day Two | ||
9.10am | |||
| 9.45am | Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Address | ||
| 10.05am | Department of Health, Disability and Ageing Address | ||
10.30am | Morning Tea | ||
Concurrent session B | |||
B1 – Spotlight 10-Minute Presentations: Rethinking Models, Exploring Possibilities | |||
11.20am | A Conversation with HESTA | ||
11.35am | Independence Through Collaboration: An Alternative to Consolidation | ||
11.50am | Franchise for the Future: Why Local Ownership Is the Financially Sustainable Answer to Home Care's National Challenge | ||
12.05pm | From Transport to Togetherness: Creating Shared Smiles Across Generations | ||
12.20pm | Geriatrician in Residential Aged Care (G-RAC) Pilot Program – OneCare Umina Park | ||
12.35pm | 2026 Customer Experience Maturity in Aged Care. Discover Strategies to Enhance Customer Experience in Aged Care for Improved Outcomes. | ||
B2 - Growth, Investment and Market Strategy | |||
11.15am | Six M&A Lessons to Support Strategic Growth | ||
11.45am | How Risk Transfer Can Help Facilitate Investment in Australia's Ageing Sector | ||
12.15pm | Similarity and Difference: Understand the Drivers of For Purpose and For Profit Aged Care Providers | ||
B3 - Workforce Capability and Development | |||
11.15am | Regional, Rural and Remote Home Care Workforce Support Program | ||
11.45am | Beyond Compliance: Building Workforce Capability in Aged Care | ||
12.15pm | Collaborating for Change: Aged Care, Disability, Leisure and Health Qualifications | ||
B4 - AI, Data and Digital Innovation | |||
11.15am | AI, Privacy and Governance: Practical Lessons from a Real-World Incident | ||
11.45am | Adopting AI in Aged Care Without Adopting the Risk: A Practical Path for Providers | ||
12.15pm | Beyond Productivity: Using Agentic AI to Reveal Hidden Work in Aged Care | ||
B5 - Inclusive and Culturally Safe Care | |||
11.15am | Trust as Infrastructure | ||
11.45am | Together We Can – Creating Belonging for Culturally Diverse Older Australians | ||
12.15pm | Safer Care: Culturally inclusive and Trauma Informed Care – What It Means, How to Provide It and Why It Matters | ||
B6 - Clinical Governance and Quality | |||
11.15am | From Assumption to Assurance: Closing the Clinical Governance Gap in Home Care | ||
11.45am | From Framework to Foresight: Applying the New National Model for Clinical Governance to Aged Care | ||
12.15pm | Beyond Compliance: The Board’s Role in Governing High-Quality Care | ||
B7 - Strategy and Future Planning | |||
11.15am | Continuum of Care: Myth or Reality? | ||
11.45am | Shaping What Comes Next: Strategic Leadership in Australia’s Support at Home Era | ||
12.15pm | Strategy Before Certainty: Planning for the Aged Care Cohort Already in the Pipeline | ||
12.45pm | Lunch | ||
Concurrent session C | |||
Strategy and Future Planning | |||
2.15pm | Key Trends in Financial Sustainability – Beyond the Numbers | ||
2.30pm | Profit, Purpose and Regulation: Securing the Financial Viability of Aged Care | ||
Consumer Voice and Co-design | |||
2.15pm | Co-Designing a Philosophy of Care with Older Mental Health Consumers: Translating Lived Experience into Principles for Service Delivery | ||
2.45pm | From Consultation to Influence: Older People Shaping the Future of Aged Care | ||
Transformation and Organisational Capability | |||
2.15pm | The Human Side of Digital Transformation | ||
2.45pm | Beyond the PMO: Building Organisational Transformation Capability to Deliver Aged Care Reform | ||
Governance and Organisational Culture | |||
2.15pm | Beyond Compliance - Transforming Governance through Leadership and Culture | ||
2.45pm | Board Culture Matters: Hindsight, Insight, and Foresight | ||
Specialist and Complex Care | |||
2.15pm | Demystifying Dementia After Diagnosis: Outcomes and Lessons from Rementia Together | ||
2.45pm | Palliative Care Panel Session | ||
3.15pm | Afternoon Tea | ||
Plenary Session 5 | |||
4.05pm | Insights into the Aged Care Sector | ||
4.30pm | Keynote Panel Session | ||
5pm | Networking Hour | ||
6.30pm | Optional Networking Dinner | ||
Day Three - Thursday 26 November 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Plenary Session 6 | |||
| 9am | Welcome to Day Three | ||
9.05am | International Keynote Address | ||
9.35am | Fireside Chat | ||
| 10.05am | Plenary Session | ||
Retirement Living 2030 – Together we can: Reimagine Retirement Living Program 2026 | |||
| 9am | Opening and Welcome | ||
| 9.10am | The Battle for Capital: Retirement Villages vs. Land Lease Communities | ||
| 9.30am | Planning for the Future: Is Australia Making Room for Retirement Living? | ||
| 9.50am | Future by Design: Are We Building Yesterday’s Villages for Tomorrow’s Residents? | ||
| 10.10am | Building Affordability: Can 3D Printing Transform Retirement Living? | ||
10.35am | Morning Tea | ||
Concurrent session D | |||
D1 – Spotlight 10-Minute Presentations: Technology Enabling Care | |||
11.20am | Improving Palliative Care in Residential Aged Care Using Telehealth | ||
11.35am | The Economic and Clinical Value of Assistive Technology: Enhancing Dementia and Chronic Care Management in the Home and Community | ||
11.50am | Beyond Generative AI: Predicting Adverse Outcomes Using Existing Aged Care Data | ||
12.05pm | Feasibility and Acceptance of Conversational AI for Scheduling Outbound Calls in Home Aged Care | ||
11.20am | Six Questions Before You Approve an AI Use Case | ||
D2 – Governance Risk and Resilience | |||
11.20am | Beyond the Breach: Cyber Governance for Aged Care Boards in an Era of Continuous Disruption | ||
11.50am | Psychosocial Risk, Governance and the Emerging Insurance Gap in Aged Care | ||
12.20pm | When the Call Comes: A Crisis Workshop for Aged Care Boards and Executives | ||
D3 - First Nations Ageing and Aged Care | |||
11.20am | Understanding the Needs of Ageing Stolen Generations Survivors: Updated AIHW Data for Aged Care Policy and Practice | ||
11.50am | Choice Without Access: The Next Failure Point in Australia's Aged Care Reforms | ||
12.20pm | More Details Coming Soon | ||
D4 - Leadership, Resilience and Performance | |||
11.20am | Resilience in a Decade of Disruption – Leading When Change Becomes the Constant | ||
11.50am | Leading Through the Unknown: Steady Leadership for Aged Care Boards Through Sustained Reform | ||
12.20pm | Make Reform Contagious - The Surprising Behavioural Levers for Leading Change | ||
D5 - Workforce Strategy and Productivity | |||
11.20am | Beyond Integration: Building One Workforce Across Diverse Aged Care Organisations | ||
11.50am | The Workforce We Can’t Afford to Waste: Unlocking Capacity Without Recruiting a Single New Worker | ||
12.20pm | Future Workforce Now: Engaging Junior Staff to Transform Aged Care Dining Services | ||
D6 - Reimagine Retirement Living | |||
11.20am | Rethinking Retirement Living: Building a Cognitive Care Framework to Support Ageing in Place Marie Alford, General Manager, Growth and Innovation, HammondCare | ||
11.50am | Advances In Health Care Delivery/ Telehealth in a Retirement Village Setting | ||
12.20pm | Connected Care: Bringing the Future of Retirement Living to Life | ||
D7 - Business Models and Operational Performance | |||
11.20am | From Workforce Pressure to Financial Sustainability: Operational Efficiency Strategies for Aged Care Providers | ||
11.50am | Diversified Service & Business Models: Strengthening Your Organisation, Creating Impact for Communities | ||
12.20pm | Running the Business of Care: Connecting Operations, Finance and Sustainability in Home Care | ||
12.50pm | Lunch | ||
Plenary Session 7 | |||
2.20pm | Plenary Session | ||
2.50pm | Panel Session | ||
3.20pm | Closing Keynote | ||
Retirement Living 2030 – Together we can: Reimagine Retirement Living Program 2026 | |||
2.20pm | Leading Through the Flames Preparedness, decision-making and compassion when fire came to Euroa | ||
2.20pm | One Sector, Many Models: The Numbers Behind Retirement Living | ||
3.10pm | Close of Reimagine Retirement Living | ||
4pm | Conference Reflections | ||
4.05pm | Conference Close | ||
4.05pm | Afternoon Tea | ||
6.30pm | Conference Dinner | ||
Day Three - Thursday 26 November 2026Retirement Living 2030 – Together we can: Reimagine Retirement Living Program 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Session one | |||
| 9am | Opening and Welcome | ||
9.10am | The Battle for Capital: Retirement Villages vs. Land Lease Communities | ||
9.30am | Planning for the Future: Is Australia Making Room for Retirement Living? | ||
| 9.50am | Future by Design: Are We Building Yesterday’s Villages for Tomorrow’s Residents? | ||
| 10.10am | Building Affordability: Can 3D Printing Transform Retirement Living? | ||
10.35am | Morning Tea | ||
D4 - Reimagine Retirement Living | |||
11.20am | Rethinking Retirement Living: Building a Cognitive Care Framework to Support Ageing in Place | ||
11.50am | Are Retirement Villages Australia’s Untapped Health & Wellbeing Network? | ||
12.20pm | Connected Care: Bringing the Future of Retirement Living to Life | ||
12.50pm | Lunch | ||
Session Two | |||
2.20pm | Leading through the flames : Preparedness, decision-making and compassion when fire came to Euroa | ||
2.20pm | One Sector, Many Models: The Numbers Behind Retirement Living | ||
3.10pm | Close of Reimagine Retirement Living | ||
4pm | Conference Reflections | ||
4.05pm | Conference Close | ||
4.05pm | Afternoon Tea | ||
6.30pm | Conference Dinner | ||
Please note that the conference program is subject to change at the discretion of the organisers without prior notice. We reserve the right to alter speakers, session times and topics as necessary.
