How It All Began

History of Victorian Croatian Aged Care Services

The idea of a Croatian aged care facility goes back to 1979 when the Australian Croatian Association of Geelong conducted a survey of needs of Croatian elderly in Geelong and produced a report in 1980. This report clearly forecasts a growing ageing migrant population and a lack of aged care facilities to meet those needs.

Many ethnic communities in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s built their own ethno-specific aged care facilities, including the Slovenians, Ukrainians, Hungarian, Dutch and Russian, but this was not the case for Victorian Croatians.

The Croatian community in Victoria has a strong and proud history of pooling their resources together to build churches, church halls, sporting centres and cultural associations. This has provided a valuable resource for the Croatian community to get-together, to maintain their language and continue their customs.

The planning and design of the Croatian specific aged care facility in Geelong is well underway and this community resource will soon benefit Victorian Croatians.