Providing Culturally Safe Care in Aged Care Facilities: Supporting Māori, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Residents

Focused on person-centred, culturally safe care, this practical guide explains how to respect each resident’s identity and involve family and community in decision-making. More detailed information is available on the HUB, Infection Prevention Services’ (IPS) website.

Aged care providers across Australia and New Zealand support increasingly culturally diverse communities. A strong relationship between a facility and the cultural identity of the people in its care is essential to delivering safe, person-centred aged care.At Infection Prevention Services (IPS), we know culturally safe care sits alongside clinical quality, not as a separate entity. This blog is for IPC leads, care staff, and facility managers and provides practical guidance on supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents, kaumātua and whānau in New Zealand, and residents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. You will learn what cultural safety means in daily practice, how Australia's Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards and New Zealand's Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard (NZS 8134:2021) frame these obligations, and simple steps your team can take to ensure every resident's identity, values, and connection to community and Country are respected.

Cultural safety is not the same as cultural awareness. Awareness is what a staff member knows; safety is an experience defined by the resident. Care is culturally safe when the person receiving it, and not the provider, feels their identity, values, and beliefs are respected.

In Australia, Standard 1 ("The Individual") of the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards (effective from 1 November 2025) requires providers to deliver care that respects each person's identity, culture, and diversity, and to support them in making decisions about their own lives. In New Zealand, the Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard (NZS 8134:2021) sets a similar expectation: services must recognise and respond to residents' cultural needs, including specific guidance for Māori as tangata whenua.

For residents, cultural safety can mean the difference between feeling at home in aged care and feeling cut off from everything familiar.

The 2025–2035 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Framework and the Cultural Respect Framework 2016–2026 both centre on self-determination. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this means directing decisions about their own care. In practice, this means:

• Recognising connection to Country, kinship, and community as central to wellbeing, not an "extra" consideration.
• Involving family, community and Elders in care planning according to the resident's wishes and cultural preferences.
• Partnering with local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations where possible, rather than working in isolation.
• Building workforce cultural competency through ongoing, not one-off, training.

Facilities in regional and remote areas should also be aware of flexible care models, such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program, which is designed to keep older people connected to their community rather than relocating them and risking that connection.

Culturally safe care for kaumātua (Māori elders) draws on values that should guide everyday practice, not just formal policy:

• Whanaungatanga — building genuine relationships with kaumātua and their whānau, who are central to decision-making processes.
• Manaakitanga and mana — offering hospitality, kindness, and respect that uphold a person's dignity and authority.
• Tikanga — weaving Māori customs and protocols into daily routines, from meals to the way a room is entered.
• Tapu, noa, and whakamā — understanding sacredness, balance, and shame helps staff avoid actions that unintentionally cause distress

Care should be holistic, addressing physical, spiritual, social, and cultural wellbeing together. Resources that incorporate mātauranga Māori alongside clinical guidance can help teams put these values into practice and reflects the principles underpinning culturally responsive services in Aotearoa New Zealand and the partnership approach recognised through Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Australia's Aged Care Diversity Framework recognises a range of communities and life experiences that may influence care needs, including people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQA+ communities, veterans, and people living in rural and remote areas.

Common, practical needs include:

• Access to interpreters and translated materials, not just for consent forms but for everyday conversation.
• Food, prayer, and personal care routines reflecting religious and cultural practice.
• An understanding that family and the wider community involvement in decision-making varies across cultures. Ask, rather than assume, what a resident wants or needs.

Programs such as the Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care (PICAC) network provide CALD-specific training that aligns well with a facility's broader diversity and inclusion goals.

A short checklist for IPC leads and facility managers:

• Ask about cultural preferences at admission, and document them in the care plan; don’t assume.
• Involve family, whānau, or the community in decisions whenever a resident wants that involvement.
• Build relationships with local Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori, and CALD community organisations befores need arises.
• Understand available support services for veteran residents and their families, including resources provided by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA).
• Review menus, activities, and communication materials for cultural relevance, not merely for compliance.
• Train staff regularly, not as a one-off induction module.

That last point matters as much for cultural safety as it does for infection prevention. IPS builds monthly training rhythms for IPC because one-off sessions don't change everyday practice - the same principle applies here.

No. Cultural awareness is the knowledge a staff member holds; cultural safety is judged by the resident receiving care, based on whether they feel respected.

Yes. Standard 1, "The Individual", requires providers to respect each person's identity, culture, and diversity, effective from 1 November 2025.

Ngā Paerewa requires services to recognise and respond to residents' cultural needs, including specific guidance on supporting Māori as tangata whenua.

Cultural safety requires staff to reflect on how their own experiences, assumptions, and values influence interactions with residents. Cultural safety is not achieved simply by learning facts about different cultures; it develops through respectful relationships, curiosity, listening, and willingness to adapt practice.

Read more of our blogs on the IPS website, the HUB. 

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