Many older Australians and their carers require support in navigating the complexity of the aged care system. They are also uncertain about their rights and their aged care providers’ responsibilities.

The National Aged Care Advocacy Program (NACAP) provides free, independent and confidential advocacy support, education and information to older people and their carers. It also delivers education sessions to aged care providers to promote awareness of elder rights and provider responsibilities. The program has a particular focus on supporting people living with dementia, mental health conditions, disability or cognitive decline, and people from the special needs groups defined in the Aged Care Act 1997.

This work is particularly important in light of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s findings around the importance of advocacy in safeguarding the rights and interests of older people.

To ensure the NACAP is meeting its objectives, the department has appointed AHA to evaluate the program. Our evaluation will consider what the program has achieved, and how advocacy services and policy could be improved in the future. In particular, we will look at how effective the program has been in:

• ensuring older people’s aged care rights are understood, recognised and upheld
• supporting older people from diverse cultural groups and with complex vulnerabilities.

The evaluation will involve 3 parallel streams of work:

1. Implementation: We will interview people responsible for implementing the NACAP to explore how it is being delivered, and whether the governance model, funding approach, and stakeholder linkages are appropriate for the program.
2. Effectiveness: We will use a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to assess how well the NACAP is meeting demand for timely advocacy services and achieving its intended objectives. A key part of our approach will be to ask NACAP recipients and aged care providers how well the program meets their needs.
3. Efficiency: We will draw on qualitative and quantitative data to identify areas of service duplication and determine if the program delivers value for money.

Our final report is due at the end of June 2024, and will include findings and recommendations for improving the program.