Gillard Labor Government improving translation services for Australians in aged care
Julia Gillard,Justine Elliot
posted Friday, 13 August 2010
A re-elected Gillard Labor Government will improve translation services for older Australian residents in aged care who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Often older Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds find it more difficult to communicate with aged care staff and access the care that is most suitable for their needs.
The Gillard Labor Government will invest a total of $5 million to provide improved access to translation services and cultural awareness training for aged care staff.
This includes $2.2 million to engage interpreter services to help older persons from non English speaking backgrounds undertake critical communication for health and aged care matters.
The initiative will support around 14,000 hours worth of on-site visits and telephone interpretation services each year.
These additional translation services will be bolstered with a $1 million investment in grants to aged care facilities to translate documents used in day-to-day care such as notices, menus and newsletters.
A further $1.7 million will be allocated to provide cultural awareness training for staff in aged care facilities.
Currently older persons from ethnic backgrounds make up around 15 per cent of people in residential aged care facilities.
Communication difficulties can mean that these older Australians may not receive timely care and support which can lead to poorer health outcomes and increased isolation.
Together, these initiatives will help ensure that language or cultural background does not act as a barrier to receiving high quality aged care.
This investment builds on the Gillard Labor Government’s commitment to aged care.
Already Federal Labor has increased funding for aged and community care by some 30 per cent and created more than 10,000 new aged care places.
The Gillard Labor Government is also taking full policy and funding responsibility for aged care, so that it can build a national system that provides seamless transition and support from basic care at home through to high level residential care.
We recognise that there is more to do to improve aged care services to meet the increasing demands of our ageing population.
To set out the path to further reform, we have asked the Productivity Commission to undertake the most comprehensive review of our aged care system in decades.
As this review is undertaken, we are implementing reforms to build the foundation of a modern aged care system and getting on with the job of providing more services, better support and better care for older Australians.
Tags: aged, care, Gillard, Labor, seniors