The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) has welcomed Labor’s election commitment to invest $100 million to expand access to culturally appropriate aged care facilities for Australia’s migrant communities.
FECCA Chairperson Ms Mary Patetsos said FECCA has been advocating strongly for greater access to culturally appropriate aged care services on behalf of its members, and called for increased support in its federal election policy platform.
“Our consultations with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians have identified a range of barriers that they face in accessing appropriate quality aged care services,” she said.
“These include language barriers between CALD residents and staff, and in some instances a lack of understanding of residents’ cultural and faith backgrounds.
“Every Australian has the right to quality aged care, which is why FECCA called for greater support for existing multicultural and ethno-specific providers and for mandatory cultural competency training for all aged care providers and workers.
“FECCA welcomes this proposed investment which will help ensure more culturally appropriate aged care services are available to older CALD Australians.”
FECCA is the peak, national body representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. FECCA’s role is to advocate and promote issues on behalf of its constituency to government, business and the broader community.
