Policy Bites: From disability to aged care – building human rights-based, community-driven models

The Sydney Policy Lab invites you a Policy Bites seminar with Professor Mary McCarron, including a panel discussion with Professor Brendan McCormack, head of CARE Program and Advisory, Participatory Methods at the Sydney Policy Lab.

Light lunch will be provided. Space is limited. Please register to secure your place.

Policy Bites – From disability to aged care: building human rights-based, community-driven models

How can health systems better respond to the complex needs of people with intellectual disabilities as they age? This session explores how evidence and a human-rights lens can shift aged care beyond the traditional medical model toward preson-centred, relational and community-driven care. Drawing on Ireland’s Intellectual Disability Supplement to The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (IDS-TILDA), learn how longitudinal data has informed national policy, improved community supports and addressed inequalities in healthcare access.

In discussion with Professor Brendan McCormack – head of CARE Program and Advisory, Participatory Methods at the Sydney Policy Lab – participants will consider how these lessons can inform aged care reform in Australia embedding dignity, choice, and inclusion at the heart of ageing well.

About Professor Mary McCarron

Mary is a committed ageing research leader and an international expert in the fields of intellectual disability & ageing, dementia, and end of life care. She is the founder and Principal Investigator for the first ever Longitudinal Comparative Study on Ageing in Persons with Intellectual Disability (IDS-TILDA) to be conducted in Ireland or internationally.

Time and location

12:30 pm - 2pm, Thursday 9 October 2025.

Susan Wakil Seminar Room 320, The University of Sydney, NSW 2050.

Accessibility

We are committed to ensuring our spaces are safe, accessible and enjoyable for all. The RD Watt building is fully accessible for people who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids and service animals are welcome. Enter via the rear door of the RD Watt Building, near the entrance to the Social Sciences Building at the University of Sydney. Our meeting and events space is equipped with PA and assistive listening systems.

If you have any other access requirements, please do let us know when you register.

About Policy Bites

The Sydney Policy Lab’s lunchtime seminars – Policy Bites – are a forum for researchers and practitioners to present their exploratory and applied policy work in its early stages. Each public seminar gathers the Lab community in our collaborative space to hear and discuss new research as we exchange ideas across disciplines.

Policy Bites are organised by Dr Kate Harrison Brennan (Director, Sydney Policy Lab), Dr Assel Mussagulova (Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Administration, School of Social and Political Sciences) and Associate Professor Meru Sheel (Sydney School of Public Health).