This week, Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative (AMHC) Executive Director Priyanka Rai and CEO of the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, Lisa Ward appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs as part of its Inquiry into the Support at Home Program.
Drawing on FECCA’s national engagement with almost 1,000 multicultural older people, carers, community organisations and service providers, they highlighted the barriers that continue to prevent many multicultural older Australians from accessing the care they’re entitled to.
The Support at Home Program is intended to help older people remain safe, independent and connected in their homes and communities. FECCA supports that objective. Our concern is that, for many multicultural older Australians, formal eligibility does not yet translate into practical access.
Equity must be measured by whether people can understand, commence and safely use care.
Since April 2025, FECCA has undertaken a national program of engagement with multicultural older people, family carers, community organisations, providers, researchers and advocates. This work has reached almost 1,000 people from more than 50 countries of origin through regular consultations across every state and territory, including metropolitan, regional and rural communities. It is also guided by FECCA’s Multicultural Advocates for Inclusive Aged Care (MAIAC).
The evidence and lived experience we’ve gathered is consistent. Barriers arise across the entire aged care pathway: awareness, entry, assessment, service planning, pricing, participant contributions, hardship assistance, provider availability, workforce capacity and continuity of care. These barriers are cumulative. A person who does not understand that support exists may never seek an assessment. A person whose cultural and family circumstances are not properly understood may receive an incomplete assessment.
A person who cannot understand the service agreement may reduce support they have already been assessed as needing.
The consequences extend beyond the individual. Delayed, unaffordable or culturally unsafe home care transfers unmet need to unpaid family carers, hospitals and, too often, premature residential care. It is therefore both an equity failure and a fiscal risk: needs become more complex and shift to higher-cost parts of the care system.
FECCA calls for Support at Home to deliver equitable outcomes in practice. The mainstream aged care system must be designed, funded and held accountable for serving Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse ageing population.
FECCA is not seeking a separate aged care system, nor do we think one is needed. We are asking for the existing system to work equitably for the diverse population it serves.
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Maria L. | As someone who speaks English as a second language, I appreciated the patience and understanding shown by Amoscare. They made the entire process accessible and stress-free. |
Tags: Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative, Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, FECCA, Senate Inquiry into the Support at Home Program, Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs
