Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner steps down  

Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner Andrea Kelly has announced she will be stepping away from the role at the end of her period of secondment.  

The Commissioner role is designed to lead advocacy efforts for the improvement of culturally safe aged care services for First Nations communities across Australia. 

Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae said Ms Kelly has “set the standard’ for what the First Nations Aged Care Commissioner role can achieve.  

“From the outset, she has visited communities across the country, sat down with Elders, families, carers and providers, and listened,” he said.  

“That depth of consultation, and the trust she has built with First Nations communities in every part of Australia, has shaped the foundations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care reform in this country.” 

Ms Kelly was first appointed in January 2024, marking the government’s commitment to addressing recommendation 49 of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety: “To establish a statutory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Commissioner (Commissioner) to ensure culturally safe, tailored and flexible aged care services for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

During her time in the role, Ms Kelly authored the landmark report Transforming Aged Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in which she discussed their significant challenges in accessing high quality, responsive and culturally safe aged care.

The report detailed recommendations for the improvement of aged care in First Nations communities, including:

• a commitment from the federal government to develop a 10-year transformation plan co-designed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• establishing a permanent Commissioner and supporting office that is independent and can hold the aged care system to account
• and an additional 27 urgent actions the government should commit to as a priority.

Minister Rae said the report will act as a guide for the Labor government in the coming years.

“[Ms Kelly] brought to this role exactly what it needed: rigour, cultural authority, and an unwavering focus on the people at the centre of the system. Our government’s aged care reform is stronger for her work, and so is the sector,” he said.  

“The government is actively progressing a response to this critical report.” 

The government will now work with the community to establish the role of a permanent commissioner.