Vision 2030: Healthy Ageing in Multicultural Australia

Vision 2030: Healthy Ageing in Multicultural Australia

The Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) is calling for immediate and sustained action to avoid failing an entire generation of older Australians, with the launch of its five-year strategic framework – Vision 2030: Healthy Ageing in Multicultural Australia (Vision 2030). 

Presented at the 2025 National Multicultural Health and Wellbeing Conference in Melbourne, Vision 2030 aligns with the principles of the new Aged Care Act 2024 (the new Act), which position cultural diversity as a national strength and shifts the focus from a provider-focused system to a rights-based, person-centred approach.

Developed in consultation with more than 435 multicultural advocates, service providers and researchers, Vision 2030 will drive systemic improvement, equitable access and culturally inclusive care for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and their carers across Australia.

FECCA’s Vision 2030 serves as both a roadmap and a call to action and identifies eight interconnected key priority areas:

1. Equitable Access – guarantee language rights through free accredited interpreters and plain-language, in-language information.

2. Culturally Appropriate Models of Care – hard-wire cultural competency into strengthened Quality Standards with clear benchmarks.

3. Integrated Care – align health, aged-care and community services through shared referral pathways and data-sharing protocols.

4. Building Community Capabilities – invest in co-designed awareness and prevention delivered in-language, through trained peer networks.

5. Evidence and Data Standards – adopt a nationally consistent CALD dataset and representative sampling across government-funded studies.

6. Workforce Development – establish a paid migrant-worker advisory council and create pathways for secure employment.

7. Migration Foresight and Planning – use migration-ageing scenario briefs to guide workforce, housing and regional development strategies.

8. Support for Family Carers – treat carers as partners and remove access barriers with clear pathways to resources and support networks.

“FECCA is committed to advocating for an Australian aged care system that reflects the nation’s multicultural reality. Vision 2030 builds on decades of leadership, advocacy and collaboration, ensuring that multicultural voices and lived experiences are embedded at every stage of aged care reform,” says Peter Doukas OAM, Chair of FECCA.

Vision 2030 builds on the achievements of FECCA’s Vision 2020 for Older Australians, launched during a period of significant reform which began in 2015 following the transition of aged care services from the states and territories to the Commonwealth Government. A decade on, and following the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (2018 – 2021) the new Act is once again reshaping consumer rights, the aged care assessment framework and all tiers of aged care services.

Through continued partnerships with government, providers, researchers and communities, FECCA will ensure the rights-based approach of the new Act is translated into real, measurable improvements so that every older Australian can age with dignity, exercise their rights and celebrate their culture and heritage.

The Multicultural Advocates for Inclusive Aged Care (MAIAC) group, established in April 2025 and made up of 14 older persons (aged 65+) from diverse cultural backgrounds, faiths and jurisdictions across Australia, together with roundtable consultations held with CALD aged care providers (in July) and researchers (in August), directly informed Vision 2030.

“These stakeholder groups contributed essential knowledge and insights to Vision 2030 and will continue to advise and support FECCA throughout its implementation,” Mr Doukas confirmed.

“Ageing and aged care are among the most urgent social policy challenges of our time. Without the decisive and informed actions outlined in Vision 2030, Australia’s ageing population will soon be confronted by an overburdened health system, extended waiting times for services, workforce shortages, and increasing demands for good quality, culturally safe and compassionate care.”