Older migrants disadvantaged by focus on online services

Health services online

Elderly couple Source: AAP

There are calls for older migrants and their families to receive greater help accessing aged care.


It follows new research that has found they are finding it harder than ever before to get information about benefits and services. 

A focus on putting information online, combined with and a lack of digital literacy among some newly arrived migrants, is being blamed.

The report Dealing with Diversity: Aged care services for new and emerging groups finds numerous roadblocks to older migrants accessing care.

They include the long-time barriers of language, culture, and isolation, as well as the emerging complication of digital illiteracy. 

According to head researcher, the interim C-E-O at National Seniors Australia Professor John McCallum, the move of government and aged care services to the online sphere has made life tougher for new migrants. 

"What is different is that in 1990, nobody mentioned IT, computers, mobile phones. In 2018, everybody mentions the computer, the IT - the My Aged Care system it's on. So there's quite a big new literacy issue for new and emerging communities struggling to look after their elders." 

For some new and emerging migrant groups technology is a completely new phenomenon.

People who have spent time in refugee camps can find it hard to get to grips with.

"They have all sorts of arrested development. They have issues that they haven't ever seen a mobile phone until they get here, and then it is like "so what is it? how do you use it?" They have quite often educational gaps and they have to catch up." 

Australian Unity's Diversity Capability Development Manager Elleni Bereded-Samuel says when migrants struggle to access services they suffer.

“They will get isolated and most of them develop a lot of health issues, chronic diseases, like diabetes like heart diseases - you name it. They didn't have it before when they were back home. They lived with a social life and that social life has been taken away from them because they have come  to a new land, a new country, a new language, and a new culture." 

She says the issue is being addressed, with people from established migrant groups helping recent arrivals to Australia access care. 

One such group is the Australian Unity CALD Alliance Advisory Group. 

"We were able to assist elders to get a seniors card. And that means they will be able - there was a lot of isolation, they can't go from one place to another place to visit family or friends. That means a lot to them to be able to go at a cheaper price and it's also accessible for them to travel from one corner of their town to another."

Professor McCallum says grassroots level support for carers and migrants is vital.

"It is just a constant effort to deal with cultural and language barriers, to communicate as much as you can in the language in a way that's culturally acceptable. I mean I think the one thing is you have to work at the grassroots to deal with this. So, local councils are big players and the local people are big players in this. That's an area where you have to work and you have to get the information through to them."

The report calls for the government to help new arrivals to acquire digital skills. 

It also asks for quicker access to interpreter services to be prioritized. 

Professor McCallum says everyone should be afforded the opportunity to age well.

"Whether they're rich, poor, you know whether they're Asian or Australian - they need a fair go. And I think we should think about new and emerging communities particularly that way that we've got to do our best to give them a fair go and those services. They are, after all, accepted in Australia and they've become Australian citizens. They deserve the same access as other people. I think that's very important. It's a human rights issue.


Share
Download our apps
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Hindi-speaking Australians.
Ease into the English language and Australian culture. We make learning English convenient, fun and practical.
Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS Hindi News

SBS Hindi News

Watch it onDemand