Exposing deficit discourse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' ageing policy: Promoting healthy ageing for our Elders

Naomi Howell; Lynne Stuart (Mandandanji Woman)

doi:10.1111/ajag.70222

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Exposing deficit discourse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' ageing policy: Promoting healthy ageing for our Elders

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Exposing deficit discourse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' ageing policy: Promoting healthy ageing for our Elders

Naomi Howell and Lynne Stuart (Mandandanji Woman)

Australasian Journal on Ageing, Vol.45(3), pp.1-3

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.70222

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Abstract

aged

ageing

health policy

healthy ageing

Indigenous peoples

In Australia, aged-care access is partly organised through age-based eligibility thresholds. For the general population, aged-care assessment and support generally begins from age 65. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (hereafter, Indigenous Peoples), eligibility begins from age 50. This threshold has a long policy history. Earlier aged-care planning and reporting under the Aged Care Act 1997 justified the use of age 50 on the basis that ‘conditions associated with ageing generally affect Indigenous Peoples substantially earlier than other Australians’ [1]. Aged-care planning recognises the earlier onset of age-related health decline among Indigenous Peoples by applying the age threshold of 50 years and over, compared with 70 years and over for non-Indigenous Australians [2, 3]. This distinction continues in contemporary aged-care law and service-planning [4, 5]. Although this threshold was introduced to improve access for people who experience chronic illness, disability or care needs earlier than non-Indigenous Australians, it can unintentionally reinforce deficit discourse. Additionally, this policy position cannot be separated from the ongoing impacts of colonisation, dispossession, segregation, forced removals and racist laws, which have disrupted Indigenous Peoples' families, languages, economies and connections to Country. These structural harms accumulate across generations and shape health and well-being throughout life. When policy operationalises 50 years as the threshold for ‘old age’, it risks turning inequity into identity, implying that being ‘old at 50’ is natural or inevitable [3]. Earlier care needs reflect preventable, long-term structural disadvantage, not Indigenous identity or biology.

Details

Title: Exposing deficit discourse in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' ageing policy: Promoting healthy ageing for our Elders
Authors: Naomi Howell (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Lynne Stuart (Mandandanji Woman) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Australasian Journal on Ageing, Vol.45(3), pp.1-3
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1111/ajag.70222
ISSN: 1741-6612
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Data Availability: The authors have nothing to report.
Organisation Unit: Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Health - Nursing
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991251396702621
Output Type: Journal article

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