A new way to solve complex challenges in aged care
The ARIIA Aged Care Collaborative Flagship Projects were created to respond to complex workforce challenges in a new way. Aged care providers are navigating complex and persistent workforce challenges and often face very similar pressures but in different local contexts.
The Flagship Projects bring aged care providers together to unpack common challenges, co-design practical solutions, implement change in real-world settings, and share what is learnt with the sector. Central to the projects is a spirit of “co-opetition” where organisations that may usually operate separately, or even compete, work together.
The collaborative environment ensures individual projects contribute to a broader understanding of what works, for whom, in what contexts, and what can be adapted or scaled. At ARIIA, we are motivated to amplify the impact of grant funding to benefit more older Australians and more of the workforce that powers aged care.
The Flagship Program's innovative structure
The Flagship Projects are part of ARIIA’s Aged Care Collaborative, funded by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. They were created because complex workforce challenges cannot always be solved through traditional grant models, and we wanted to try a new way.
In many grant programs, organisations receive funding, deliver a project and report back with outcomes. The Flagship model was designed to fund aged care providers directly, while recognising that aged care projects require more than just funding. They need time, headspace, structure, peer collaboration and executive support, along with expertise and coaching to interpret data and evidence, to co-design solutions, and to implement change.
As with all of ARIIA’s programs, the Flagship Projects are designed to leave organisations stronger than when they started. Through the projects, participating teams build their capability in co-design, project planning and implementation, evaluation, data literacy, leadership, change management and evidence-informed decision making. The project teams not only complete a project, they strengthen their own capability and confidence to continue improving beyond the life of the grant
Two Flagship Projects are now complete
ARIIA’s first two Flagship Projects began in July 2025, running for twelve months to June 2026. The first was focused on Rethinking Frontline Leadership and Role Clarity and the second was focused on Empowering Data Literacy to Drive Quality Care. 14 aged care providers participated, with 12 projects implemented and evaluated.
Along the way, the ARIIA team has been evaluating not only the 12 individual projects, but also the insights that can be drawn together across the projects, and the effectiveness of the Flagship model itself. Staying true to our intention of sharing with the sector, we look forward to providing more of these findings in the coming months.
We will also be sharing simple, practical resources that make it easy for providers to apply and scale what has been learned in their own organisations.
Sharing progress along the way
We hosted webinars in October 2025, February 2026 and May 2026 to share project progress and learnings throughout the projects. Access recordings of the webinars here: Flagship Project Updates | ARIIA
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