Joint Submission on the Draft Sexual Safety Framework for Residential Aged Care Providers

The Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative (the Collaborative) and the Australian Multicultural Women’s Alliance (AMWA) welcome this opportunity to provide feedback on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Draft Sexual Safety Framework for Residential Aged Care Providers (Framework).

We are particularly supportive of its recognition that older people retain their rights to intimate and sexual relationships, privacy, autonomy and supported decision-making; that cognitive impairment must not be used to dismiss sexual abuse allegations or the impact of trauma; and that prevention, early intervention and a trained workforce are all essential to ensure older people’s rights are protected in residential aged care. We also acknowledge that the Framework is the conceptual component of a suite of practice-oriented resources that will guide providers through implementation.

As an innovative conceptual framing, this Framework is a powerful instrument for change. Concepts, principles and pillars define the ‘boundaries’ or ‘focal points’ that shape good practice. As a normative instrument that underpins practice, the Framework must achieve a balance between a general approach and specific guidance
to ensure that equity and inclusion considerations are embedded upfront.

This submission provides input through the lens of equity and inclusion of multicultural older people. Older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds make up about a third of the population aged 65 and over, and whilst their participation in residential aged care varies depending on the state, it is projected to increase significantly across the coming years.

As at 30 June 2025, Australia’s population included 8.8 million people born overseas, making up 32.0 per cent of the population. For the first time, people born in India (971,020) overtook those born in England (970,950) as Australia’s largest overseas-born group – described by the ABS as “the largest group born overseas for the first time on record.” China was the third-largest group, at 732,000 people. (ABS 2025). This continuing demographic shift underscores the importance of tailoring aged care services and strengthening diversity data collection.

Despite these demographic changes, there is limited data on sexual abuse experienced by multicultural older people, and even less so for abuse in residential aged care. The absence of data should not be interpreted as evidence of lower risk or fewer incidents. We are concerned that, without explicit consideration of multicultural older people, their needs and rights might become a secondary consideration. This risk of ‘invisibility’ is even higher in view of the lack of data on sexual safety amongst multicultural older people in
residential care, and the difficulties surrounding recognition, disclosure and reporting of sexual abuse.

A sexual safety framework cannot be genuinely person-centred or rights-based if older people cannot understand their rights, communicate freely, disclose harm safely, or participate meaningfully in decisions about their care and support. For multicultural older people, this requires cultural safety to be treated as a core component of sexual safety, rather than an additional consideration