Last week, Inclusee was proud to be a Bronze Sponsor of the 2026 Positive Ageing Summit — an event that continues to bring together leaders, practitioners and advocates committed to improving the lives of older Australians.
Across two days of conversations, presentations and connections, one theme came through with remarkable clarity: positive ageing is inseparable from social connection.
Why we sponsored the Summit
At Inclusee, our work is grounded in a simple belief — that social connection is not an optional add‑on to health and aged care, but a foundational element of wellbeing.
We sponsored and attended the Summit because it aligns deeply with our mission:
- to elevate social connection as a priority
- to support older people to remain connected, independent and engaged
- to contribute practical solutions to a system under pressure
This belief also underpins our Social Health in Retirement Training, which supports organisations and professionals to better understand the role of connection, belonging and purpose in later life — and how social health can be intentionally designed, measured and prioritised alongside physical and mental health.
The conversations throughout the Summit reflected a growing recognition that the challenges facing aged care cannot be solved by clinical or transactional services alone. Connection, belonging and purpose must be part of the equation.
A moment of unexpected alignment
Rachael Cook, Inclusee’s CEO, was invited to present on Day Two, with a planned talk focused on social connection as a preventative health measure and a first‑line service in aged care.
Then something unexpected occurred.
The keynote immediately before Rachael was delivered by Inspector‑General of Aged Care, Natalie Siegel‑Brown. Her message centred on the economic, social and human case for prioritising connection, prevention and upstream investment in ageing well.
Natalie’s speech was almost identical to Rachael’s.
Two leaders, from different parts of the system, arriving independently at the same conclusion: we cannot build a sustainable future for aged care without putting social connection first.
With the audience having just heard a deeply compelling case for the importance of connection, Rachael made a conscious decision to adapt her presentation in the moment.
Instead of repeating what had already been said, she shifted focus:
- from policy to practice
- from theory to lived experience
- from slides to stories
What followed was not a rehearsed keynote, but a grounded, human conversation about what social connection looks like in real lives — and how services like Inclusee, and education initiatives such as our Social Health in Retirement Training, can help bridge the gap between insight and action.
It was a reminder that leadership isn’t always about delivering the perfect presentation. Sometimes it’s about responding to the room, trusting the message, and showing up authentically.
What this moment says about the sector
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the Summit wasn’t any single session, but what the overlap of messages revealed.
When leaders across government, service delivery and community organisations are independently articulating the same challenges and solutions, it signals a shift.
It suggests that the sector is beginning to move:
- from reactive care to preventative approaches
- from siloed services to holistic wellbeing
- from seeing loneliness as a social issue to recognising it as a system issue
For Inclusee, this alignment is encouraging. It reinforces that our work — across direct services, innovation and sector education — sits exactly where it is needed: at the intersection of community, health and ageing.
Proud to be part of the conversation
We left the Positive Ageing Summit feeling:
- proud of our team
- energised by the sector
- and more committed than ever to advocating for social connection as essential infrastructure, not an afterthought
Older people deserve systems that support them to live connected, meaningful lives — not just manage decline.
When the same message echoes from multiple voices across the sector, it’s a sign that change is not only necessary, but possible.
Thank you to the Summit organisers, speakers and attendees for creating space for these conversations. Inclusee is honoured to be part of a growing movement that is reshaping how Australia thinks about ageing — and what it truly means to age well.
