Community Participation for Seniors from Emerging Communities

Supporting and connecting seniors to essential services and social activities

The Community participation for Seniors from Emerging Communities Project has helped build awareness of the Victorian Seniors Card and other relevant senior social supports to tackle social isolation from Victoria’s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.

The project was the outcome of consultations with many senior Australians from CALD backgrounds, led by Kevin McCoy, CEO Australian Unity Independent and Assisted Living and Gerard Mansour, Commissioner for Senior Victorians. The project also involved the work of the Australian Unity CALD Alliance Advisory Group.

It aims to build capacity and capabilities of seniors from six target communities (Horn of Africa – Sudanese Dinka, Ethiopian, Somali; Burmese Karen, Filipino and Afghani) from the Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Wyndham and Greater Dandenong LGAs and surrounding areas to engage with, and support each other and their communities in accessing and participating in Victorian seniors’ support programs and services.

For many of these people English is their second language and they can often feel isolated from their community because they lack the confidence and knowledge of the services available to them.