Overview:
Join subject matter experts for a panel discussion on Building Capacity for Working with Diverse Communities in aged care. Presenters from LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA), Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care (PICAC) and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing and Aged Care Council (NATSIAACC) will explore strategies for providing more culturally safe and inclusive care for LGBTI, CALD, and First Nations people.

Rationale:
The experience of exclusion and discrimination is common across many marginalised communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and LGBTI people have historically faced prejudice and structural inequalities.

The Aged Care Quality Standards and Charter of Aged Care Rights (requirement 3a), states that “everyone receiving government-funded aged care is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect, and to have their identity, culture, and diversity valued.” Care that is truly inclusive for all should be a priority across the whole aged care system.

This presentation will focus on CALD, First Nations and LGBTI communities. These are three of nine populations listed in the Aged Care Act as focus groups for more targeted inclusion strategies.

The presentation will provide insights into how education and training can support culturally inclusive care within the aged care sector, demonstrating the importance of specialist training. It will look at commonalities and differences when providing inclusive care to LGBTI, CALD and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with a focus on intersectionality. The presentation will consider practical strategies to enable providers to provide safer and more inclusive care that will contribute to meeting requirement 3a of the aged care quality standards.

Format:
This session will be a panel discussion, showcasing three organisations that work to increase the capacity of aged care providers to provide more inclusive care for people from diverse backgrounds.

Representatives from LHA, PICAC and NATSIAACC will provide insights for building organisational capacity to support diverse communities.

Natalija Nesvadba, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager at Regis Aged Care will facilitate a discussion among these three experts. Within a context of intersectionality, the panel will discuss innovative solutions that can support the aged care sector to build inclusion and diversity strategies into all aspects of care provision.

This session will include lived experience perspectives, with voices of community members reflected in the presentation.