The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) has released information in simple English and 21 languages to help older people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to tell the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety how they think aged care could be better.
FECCA has been working closely with community engagement staff from the Royal Commission to encourage older CALD Australians to share their experience of aged care services. The Royal Commission announced last year that they would accept submissions in languages other than English (in writing, by telephone or by audio/video recordings). However, only 5% of submissions received have related to CALD issues, of which a very small number have been in languages other than English.
In its Interim Report of November 2019, the Royal Commission highlighted the significant feedback it has already received about problems with the aged care system. The Royal Commission is now asking people to tell them how the system could be improved.
FECCA Chairperson Mary Patetsos is urging people from CALD backgrounds to take advantage of this opportunity to make constructive suggestions for improvement.
“It is really important that CALD people make their voices heard so that future improvements to aged care services take their views into account,” she said.
“Without significant feedback from CALD people, it is difficult to see how Governments can fully understand and plan to respond effectively to the particular needs of older CALD Australians.”
Ms Patetsos urged people to use the new resources and to tell the Royal Commission what they think in their own language.
It is also important to note that people must send their ideas to the Royal Commission by the deadline of 30 April 2020.
The new resource is available at: https://fecca.org.au/how-can-aged-care-services-be-better/
A resource to encourage organisations working with older CALD Australians to have conversations with them about the Royal Commission and how to tell their stories is also available at: https://fecca.org.au/royal-commission-into-aged-care-toolkit/
