Strategic direction

Designing a new future 2018-2023

Dementia Australia’s Strategic Direction, Designing a new future 2018-2023, is the result of a year of extensive consultation with our community as we sought to understand how best to deliver the greatest benefit for people living with dementia, their families and carers.

We asked our community two questions

  • What are the biggest issues for people living with dementia, their families and carers?
  • How can Dementia Australia have the biggest impact?

Feedback from a wide range of stakeholders informed our three priority areas:

Infographics showing timely diagnosis, quality of care and reducing discrimination

We know there is a big and growing challenge ahead of us.

  • Diagnosis takes on average three years, seven for younger onset dementia.
  • 76 per cent of people with dementia live in the community – 44 per cent live alone
  • Marginalised groups find it difficult to gain access to support – 2 in 5 people living with dementia live in regional, rural and remote communities.
  • 50 per cent of people in residential aged care facilities have a dementia diagnosis
  • There are currently no standards specific to the care of people living with dementia in aged care facilities
  • 63 per cent of people say they know very little about dementia
  • 41 per cent said they found talking to someone with dementia confronting

As the national peak body for people living with dementia, their families and carers, Dementia Australia will use our unique position and strength to transform the experience of people impacted by dementia by focusing on these three priority areas.

This is a long-term strategy that will achieve real and sustainable benefits for people living with dementia, their families and carers.

Read the Strategic Direction here and watch the video which includes stories from Dementia Advocates, some of whom live with dementia, or are carers or family members of people living with dementia. Listen to advocates talk about why these priority areas are so important.

In summary, our Strategic Direction aims are:

  1. To significantly reduce the time it takes to diagnose dementia and increase the number of people accessing support, including those living in hard-to-reach locations.
  2. To create baseline and best-practice standards for quality dementia care, in consultation with stakeholders. We will advocate for the baseline standards, which will include provisions for training, to be implemented into aged care facilities across Australia.
  3. We will tackle discrimination head on so that no-one with dementia feels isolated.

Dementia Australia’s Strategic Direction was launched on 15 October 2018. As milestones are reached this page will be updated.