Ageing and Issues Facing Older LGBTI Australians

Media Release: Thursday 21 December 2012

Health Alliance welcomes “ground breaking” LGBTI Aged Care Strategy

Click here to download the strategy

"Australia’s LGBTI Health Alliance today welcomed the release of the National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy.

“This is a ground breaking first for Australia”, declared Alliance Chair Susan Ditter. “It is the first time the Australian Government has released a national strategy specifically addressing the health and well-being of LGBTI people.”

“The needs of older LGBTI Australians has been well documented, and a number of local community-based projects have been developed in some States/Territories.”

“But for the first time, there is now an overarching national framework, with guiding principles and goals for the Australian Government to achieve”, Ms Ditter said. “These can be used to encourage further local and regional initiatives by both the aged care sector and LGBTI communities.”

Ms Ditter said that the Alliance had been closely involved with the development of the Strategy, jointly chairing the Steering Committee for the Strategy and conducting 15 community consultations throughout Australia.

“We congratulate the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP, and officers of the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA), for taking a lead in this area of health and well-being for LGBTI populations.”

“DoHA has committed to annual, public reporting to monitor the implementation of the strategy. It will be important in the delivery of the strategy that community engagement, especially by older LGBTI people themselves, is supported.”, Ms Ditter said."

• Community Consultations on National LGBTI Ageing & Aged Care Strategy
• Download the draft National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy
• Background to National LGBTI Ageing & Aged Care Strategy
• LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care in Context
  • Productivity inquiry into aged care
  • The Aged Care Act
• Our Work
• Contact us

National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy

In July 2012 the Federal Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, the Hon. Mark Butler, announced the development of an LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy, so that concerns raised by LGBTI older people, the National LGBTI Health Alliance and other organisations in recent years may be considered by the Government as part of its implementation of the broader Living Longer Living Better reforms to aged care.

The aim of the Strategy is to provide a strategic framework to inform Australian Government commitment, policy, programs and service development priorities, including resource allocation and the “special needs” status of LGBTI people, as it implements the reforms.

The National LGBTI Health Alliance has been funded to host broad-ranging community consultations in each State and Territory, as well as accepting written submissions, to provide a report for the Department of Health and Ageing which will inform the development of this Strategy, and we want to hear from you.

Productivity Inquiry into Aged Care

In April 2010, the Australian Government commissioned a Productivity Inquiry into aged care, tasked with investigating the changes that would need to be made to the aged care system in order to cope with an older and increasingly diverse population.

During the Productivity Commission’s consultations, various aged care groups and LGBTI groups including the National LGBTI Health Alliance advocated for an aged care system that was more appropriate for older LGBTI Australians (view or download the Alliance’s submission to the Productivity Commission, July 2010). Amongst the various recommendations three key reforms were advocated for by the National LGBTI Health Alliance:

• recognition as “special needs status” under the Aged Care Act;
• funded national training for aged care workers on LGBTI older issues; and
• an LGBTI ageing strategic plan to ensure the changes to the aged care industry were sensitive and supportive of LGBTI older people’s needs.

In August 2011, the Productivity Commission released their report Caring for Older Australians which endorsed these three key recommendations. The report included an entire chapter devoted to catering for diversity, as well as a specific section on LGBTI Australians (p 253-255 of the report). It also supported developing a strategic plan, and stated that “In the Commission’s view, consideration of the development of a specific GLBTI strategy is warranted given the anticipated increase in demand for aged care services by this group and the limited recognition of their needs and preferences in the current policy framework, delivery of services and accreditation processes.”

These statements were endorsed by the Aged Care Industry, as demonstrated by the National Aged Care Alliance (NACA) November 2011 factsheets on the Productivity Commission report which stated that “It is also encouraging to see the GLBTI issues being discussed and the Alliance supports the development of a national aged care approach to ensure providers are more aware of, and address, these needs.”

The recommendations were further endorsed by older consumers, including LGBTI older people who attended the Ministerial conversations around the country to discuss the proposed reforms. In the concluding report, the conversation coordinators, COTA Australia noted that “The Conversations acknowledged, and supported, the Productivity Commission’s recommendation for the development of a specific Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) aged care strategy"

The Aged Care Act

The Aged Care Act 1997, which governs all aspects of residential care as well as flexible and community care, was amended under the Same-Sex Relationships Act 2008 to recognise same-sex relationships. This meant that from 1 July 2009 older same-sex couples have been able to spread their assets and exclude their family home from any asset and income tests, the same as opposite-sex couples. However the past inequality, which resulted in higher aged care facility fees and costs for many, has left some older LGBTI Australians in a poor financial position.

In April 2012, the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, the Hon. Mark Butler MP, announced two important initiatives. The first was that LGBTI people would be recognised with “special needs” status under the Aged Care Act, recognising that aged care providers and planning authorities need to consider the requirements of the LGBTI community in the provision of care. The second announcement dedicated $2.5 million over 5 years towards training the aged care sector about LGBTI issues. These initiatives were further supported by including LGBTI people within funding for Community Visitor Schemes and a fund for targeted special needs ageing initiatives.