Older Indonesian immigrants in Australia actively negotiate their multicultural identities and family roles in ways associated with sustained psychological well-being, with cultural identity functioning as a continuously negotiated practice rather than a fixed attribute.
Key Findings
Results
Three overarching themes emerged from interviews with older Indonesian immigrants describing how they negotiate identity and family roles in Australia.
Themes were: (1) navigating belonging between cultural contexts, (2) actively exercising heritage multicultural identities, and (3) negotiating roles and authority within family.
Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's inductive thematic analysis.
COREQ guidelines were adhered to in reporting.
31 older Indonesian immigrants aged 65 years and over participated in in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews.
Results
Participants engaged in ongoing evaluation of Australia and Indonesia across affective, practical, and identity dimensions when navigating belonging.
This theme was labelled 'navigating belonging between cultural contexts.'
The evaluation process was described as ongoing rather than resolved or static.
Participants assessed both countries across multiple dimensions simultaneously, including emotional, day-to-day practical, and identity-related considerations.
Results
Participants deliberately maintained, rediscovered, and performed their heritage identities through personal agency, cultural anchors, and diaspora community engagement.
This theme was labelled 'actively exercising heritage multicultural identities.'
Heritage identity maintenance was characterised as an active and deliberate process rather than passive retention.
Diaspora community networks served as a key mechanism through which heritage identities were enacted.
Participants were recruited through Indonesian community networks, suggesting these networks were accessible and active in Southeast Queensland.
Results
Caregiving, moral guidance, and heritage cultural transmission were the primary roles through which elder identity was enacted and experienced as meaningful.
This theme was labelled 'negotiating roles and authority within family.'
These three role types — caregiving, moral guidance, and heritage cultural transmission — were documented as the means by which participants expressed elder identity.
Role performance was associated with sustaining meaning, cultural continuity, and social purpose in later life.
Results
Cultural identity among older Indonesian immigrants was found to be a continuously negotiated practice rather than a fixed attribute.
Identity negotiation was enacted through roles in both family and diaspora contexts.
This finding challenges static conceptions of cultural identity in ageing populations.
The study drew on a sample of 31 participants residing in Southeast Queensland, Australia.
Participants were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling through Indonesian community networks.
Results
Active negotiation of multicultural identities and family roles was associated with sustained psychological well-being among older Indonesian immigrants.
The relationship between identity/role negotiation and psychological well-being was a central focus of the study.
Role performance was identified as sustaining meaning, cultural continuity, and social purpose.
The study was qualitative in design; associations were interpretive rather than statistically measured.
Sample comprised 31 participants aged 65 years and over.
Conclusions
The authors recommend that aged care and policy frameworks attend to role-enabling dimensions as central to well-being among older immigrants from CALD backgrounds.
Australia is described as expecting a growing ageing population from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
The policy recommendation follows from the finding that role performance sustains psychological well-being.
Specific role-enabling dimensions identified include caregiving, moral guidance, and cultural transmission within families, as well as diaspora community engagement.
The study focused on Southeast Queensland, Australia.
What This Means
This research explored how older Indonesian immigrants living in Australia (aged 65 and over) manage their sense of cultural identity and their roles within families as they age in a country different from their homeland. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 31 people in Southeast Queensland and found three main patterns: participants were constantly weighing up what Australia and Indonesia each meant to them emotionally and practically; they actively worked to keep their Indonesian cultural identity alive through personal choices, cultural practices, and involvement in Indonesian community groups; and they found deep meaning in roles such as caring for family members, providing moral guidance, and passing on cultural traditions to younger generations.
A key finding was that cultural identity is not something fixed that immigrants simply carry with them — it is something they continuously shape and reshape through their everyday actions and relationships. When older Indonesian immigrants were able to actively perform these meaningful family and community roles, this was associated with better psychological well-being, giving them a sense of purpose, connection, and continuity with their heritage.
This research suggests that services and policies designed to support older immigrants should not focus only on physical health or language needs, but should also create space for people to continue playing important roles in their families and cultural communities. As Australia's population of older people from diverse cultural backgrounds continues to grow, understanding and supporting these role-based sources of meaning could be an important part of promoting mental and emotional well-being in this group.
Putera K. (2026). Ageing Between Two Cultures: How Older Indonesian Immigrants in Australia Negotiate Identity and Family Roles-A Qualitative Study.. Australasian journal on ageing. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.70231