The Minister for Ageing has announced that the Commonwealth Government will spend close to $22 million over the next three-and-a-half years to further dementia research.

Justine Elliot said the money will be used to fund the nation’s five Dementia Training Study Centres (DTSCs) and the three Dementia Collaborative Research Centres (DCRCs).

The DCRCs are based the University of New South Wales, Australian National University and Queensland University of Technology.

The DTSCs promote are based at the University of Wollongong, La Trobe University, Alzheimer’s Australia (SA), Curtin University of Technology and Queensland University of Technology.

They promote dementia studies and career pathways in the area of dementia care. The centres aim to improve the skills and capacity of health professionals providing care to people who live with dementia.

“Australia has one of the longest life expectancies in the world,” said Justine Elliot.

“While this is something to be celebrated, longevity brings with it greater possibility of dementia and related illnesses.

“The increasing prevalence of dementia requires us to examine new and innovative approaches to improve dementia diagnosis, prevention and care.

Mrs Elliot said that in the past two years, the Rudd Government had provided nearly $225 million to the dementia initiative and $384 million to the National Respite for Carers Program.