the Aged Care Today magazine featured articles

For people in the LGBTI community who have never been truly accepted, a positive experience in aged care can be life changing.

“The aged care sector has an incredible opportunity to provide support to people from marginalised groups that can be nothing short of transformational,” said Linda Harrison, Director Training and Capacity Building (Disability and Aged Care) at LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA). “Older LGBTI people might not have been able to live as their true selves for their entire lives up until the point of accessing care, out of fear.

“For these people, their interface with aged care – whether that’s residential care or another kind of support service – could be the first time they experience acceptance, respect and safety.  It could be the first time they live without stigma. It could be the first time they live without stigma. This can be profoundly healing and a wonderful gift as they enter into the final stage of life.”

The reality is that many older LGBTI people who are now accessing aged care have experienced significant shame, fear and trauma. They lived through criminalisation of sexuality or perhaps were even convicted. Many experienced rejection from family, churches, sporting clubs and workplaces, or lived under the threat of violence. Many also experienced the loss of loved ones through the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s.

This is why trauma-informed, intersectional care is important. Linda, a presenter at the Ageing Australia National Conference 2025, says LHA’s Silver Rainbow training programs are an important first step in reframing the sector’s approach to inclusive care.

“There has been language around person-centred care for some time, but now the introduction of rights-based legislation, strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards and a statement of rights shift the onus on aged care providers to truly embed trauma-aware and healing-informed care across their services,” said Linda.

“It’s no longer sufficient to have inclusion for marginalised groups as an add-on or exception to the rule; it must be part of how care is delivered to all older people. This means understanding the whole person and meeting their individual needs.

“We’re very pleased to see this shift but there is still a lot of work to do. Our role as the peak health organisation for older LGBTI people is to provide appropriate training and resources to support providers’ journey beyond person-centred care to truly inclusive care.”

Silver Rainbow is a key LHA training and capacity building program for the aged care sector. For the past 10 years, LHA and their partner organisations in each state and territory have provided training and resources for aged care workers to help improve the experiences of older LGBTI people. With training available for all levels of workers – from frontline staff to executives – the program is positioned to effect a cultural shift in the sector.

Between 2020 and 2025, almost 6,000 aged care workers attended 375 Silver Rainbow training opportunities, with a 90 per cent average satisfaction rate with the courses.

“At the end of the day, we want every older person accessing aged care to feel safe to express who they truly are, and have their needs met without being fearful. We want people to not be afraid to reach out for support, or wait until it is too late. They need to know aged care is a safe space for them, and training the people who care for them is key,” said Linda.

“There are also challenges around training a large and diverse workforce including people that might come from a very different set of cultural values and experiences. This is something we are aware of, something that comes up when aged care workers and leaders speak to us after conferences. We are addressing this through practical tools and resources.”

Linda says partnerships are a critical way to build momentum for cultural change, by joining together with organisations that have a larger remit or broad interface with aged care. Partnerships, including with people who have lived experience, are also essential to improving understanding of trauma-aware care and intersectional approaches, including through co-designed training and resource development. She says the LHA partnership with Ageing Australia is a crucial opportunity to expand important messaging.

The two organisations have joined together to develop a masterclass on inclusion for older LGBTI people, to highlight the value of a whole-of-organisation approach. For managers, clinical managers, human resources managers and anyone else responsible for service delivery, it will equip participants with increased knowledge and actionable strategies.

Ross Bell from the LHA Silver Pride Lived Experience Panel and co-presenter of the masterclass said, “If we are able to improve care for older LGBTI people, in the process we will lift everybody’s experience of care, because what we are doing is saying every individual person matters.”

The two-hour online masterclass will be held 26 February 2026.