A New Era in Ageing for Forgotten Australians/Care Leavers

The National Aged and Community Care Roundtable for Forgotten Australians partners with Wattle Place to host the 2025 International Care Experienced History Month Forum in Sydney for the first time in it's 5 year history.

The 2025 International Care Experienced History Month Forum will address the aged and community care challenges faced by Forgotten Australians and other Care Leavers. This event will bring together lived experience advocates, researchers, service providers, and policymakers to explore innovative solutions, and advocate for reforms that improve care quality and access. Outcomes from the forum will guide policy development, support advocacy efforts, and drive enhancements to aged care services for this vulnerable community.

Who are Forgotten Australians/Care Leavers?

Between 1940 and 1990, over 500,000 children in Australia were placed in out-of-home care, including Forgotten Australians, the Stolen Generations, and Former Child Migrants, collectively known as “Care Leavers” under the Aged Care Act. Known as both Forgotten Australians and Care Leavers, many endured severe abuse and neglect in institutions such as orphanages, children’s homes, group homes, and foster care.

Deprived of basic needs like healthcare, education, love, and affection, countless Forgotten Australians/Care Leavers experienced emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. These traumatic experiences in childhood commonly result in complex trauma, which can profoundly impact Forgotten Australians throughout their lives. Significantly though, it is as they get older and increasingly depend on others for basic needs that they are vulnerable to experiencing triggers and flashbacks of often terrifying childhood experiences. Aged care for these individuals can be an unnecessarily traumatising experience if providers are not trained and equipped to give adequate care and support to people with complex trauma.

Despite some progress in addressing institutional child abuse, significant reforms are still needed to provide redress, improve care systems, and fully acknowledge the failures of the past.

The State and society failed Forgotten Australians/Care Leavers in their early years; they deserve to receive the best care possible in their later years. We want to make this a priority in aged care. This collaboration of great minds sharing existing knowledge and ideas while fostering the development of innovative solutions will help ensure a brighter future for aged care.

Who should attend?

Aged Care Providers, Policy Makers, Researchers, Peak Bodies, those with lived experience and anyone else interested in this subject matter.

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