Background

Acknowledgement of Country

The Healing Foundation acknowledges Country, Custodians and Community of the lands on which we live and work. We also pay our respects to Elders and to Stolen Generations survivors, of the Dreaming and of the here and now. We recognise the ongoing nature of trauma experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commit each day to survivor-led intergenerational healing.

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of people who have passed away.

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Health and aged care

Access to culturally-safe, trauma-informed aged care is critical for Stolen Generations survivors.

Health and aged care

The Healing Foundation works with Stolen Generations organisations, Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs), universities and governments to improve health, social and emotional wellbeing outcomes for Stolen Generations survivors and descendants. 

Trauma-informed health and aged care is critical

Many Stolen Generations survivors have endured a lifetime of discrimination, trauma, grief and loss. As a result many carry a significant burden of health, wellbeing, social and economic disadvantage.

Most survivors are now aged 50 or older, and many live with disabilities and complex health problems including poor mental health. While most are eligible for aged care, accessing appropriate and affordable services can be particularly challenging. Many survivors avoid important health and aged care services out of fear this will trigger childhood trauma. 

Our research indicates many survivors have a desire to age at home and avoid (re)institutionalisation in residential aged care settings.

Guidance for health and aged care service providers

There are many ways that aged care staff and services can learn more about the needs of Stolen Generations survivors and how best to support them. 

The Healing Foundation has developed guidance for health and aged care service providers on working with Stolen Generations survivors, underpinned by a trauma-informed and culturally safe approach.

Our advice for providers includes:

  • Ensuring all staff working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients receive ongoing education about intergenerational trauma and trauma triggers 
  • Encouraging and providing access for all staff to undertake ongoing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety training 
  • Engaging Indigenous-specific trauma-informed professionals to assess the impact of grief and trauma and avoid misdiagnosing these as mental health issues. 

‘an equity approach is needed to achieve equal access and outcomes for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’

- Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner Ms Andrea Kelly

Resources for aged care providers

The Healing Foundation provides expert guidance on working with Stolen Generations survivors. Our advice is developed in partnership with survivors and underpinned by a trauma-informed and culturally safe approach.

Download the fact sheet: Working with the Stolen Generations: understanding trauma 

The costs of disadvantage

Research has shown that Stolen Generations survivors experience a significantly higher burden of health and economic disadvantage than other Indigenous Australians, as a direct result of their forced removal.* Survivors represent 'a gap within the gap' and are among some of our most vulnerable people.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data* commissioned by The Healing Foundation showed that, compared to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the same age, Stolen Generations survivors aged 50 and over were: 

  • 1.8 times as likely not to be the owner of a home
  • 1.7 times as likely to have experienced discrimination due to being Indigenous
  • 1.6 times as likely to live in a household that could not raise $2,000 in an emergency
  • 1.5 times as likely to have experienced actual or threatened physical violence
  • 1.4 times as likely to have a severe or profound disability
  • 1.4 times as likely to report poor mental health.

Disadvantages in aged care services 

Stolen Generations survivors risk being disproportionately disadvantaged by the Support at Home co-contributions effective from 1 November 2025 as part of the new Aged Care Act. Data shows survivors overwhelmingly rely on the lower end services that will attract the highest level of co-contribution under Support at Home.

The Healing Foundation endorses the Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner’s call for appropriate safety net mechanisms for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the Aged Care Act 2025. Without this, aged care co-contributions risk exacerbating the current disparity in access rates that all levels of government are working together to overcome through the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. 

Aged care research

Through our research we build evidence-based policy and program expertise to ensure that survivors age with dignity. We elevate the voices of Stolen Generations survivors through various policy groups, forums and research partnerships, including:

  • The Coalition of Peaks, National Closing the Gap Agreement
  • Social and Emotional Wellbeing Policy Partnership
  • National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance
  • Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee
  • First Nations Aged Care Governance Group
  • National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse
  • NIAA Indigenous Expert Group
  • Find and Connect First Nations Reference Group
  • Historical Frontier Violence Steering Committee 

Data sources:

*AIHW 2018-2019

**Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2021. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stolen Generations aged 50 and over: updated analyses for 2018–19. Cat. no. IHW 257. Canberra: AIHW

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Acknowledgement of Country

The Healing Foundation acknowledges Country, Custodians and Community of the lands on which we live and work. We also pay our respects to Elders and to Stolen Generations survivors, of the Dreaming and of the here and now. We recognise the ongoing nature of trauma experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commit each day to survivor-led intergenerational healing.