As you age, the task of looking after yourself and maintaining your home becomes more onerous. If the burden becomes too great, a range of services are available to help you stay at home. Assistance is also available if you are caring for an older person or someone with a disability. Your circumstances and requirements may influence the cost and your eligibility to receive particular assistance.

Private Home Care

Many private and not-for-profit organisations provide home care services for seniors. Some of these services, notably the ones described in the following sections, are provided on a needs basis in conjunction with government programs and are at least partly government funded. Others are provided by agreement at commercial rates, or with a charitable subsidy where the service provider is a not-for-profit organisation.

A number of service providers are listed in the Home Care section of our Products and Services Directory, where you can also find listings for a range of products and other services that can make it easier to stay in your own home.

Home and Community Care

The Home and Community Care (HACC) Program is a Commonwealth initiative, jointly funded by the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. Services are provided by a range of service organisations to frail older people and people with a disability to help them live independently at home. The services are either brought to the home or are available in the local community and include:

• day care in a day care centre that provides group recreation activities
• home help with household tasks such as cleaning, laundry and shopping
• personal care such as help with bathing and dressing
• home maintenance and modification including repairs, maintenance and modifications safely ramps and support rails
• transport for shopping, appointments and social activities
• food services including shopping, storage, preparation, home delivery and meals at a community or day centre
• nursing by a qualified nurse on a regular or occasional basis
• other health services such as physiotherapy, podiatry, speech therapy and occupational therapy provided at home or at a day centre or service providers offices
• advocacy services to advise you about your rights and responsibilities when receiving services and to act on your behalf with service providers on request
• social support including help shopping, banking, paying bills and socializing.

Each HACC service provider has its own fee policy and most services require a small contribution, depending on your situation. Special consideration is given to people with limited resources.

You do not need to be assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team to obtain HACC funded services and you may contact a HACC funded service provider directly to discuss your situation.

You can find out what services are available in your local area by calling a Commonwealth Carelink Centre on 1800 052 222. This is a free call number, which will connect you to the nearest office.

You can find further information about HACC here.

Community Aged Care Packages

Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) are flexible service packages provided to frail older people and people with a disability to help them remain living in their own home. The Commonwealth Government pays certain community and commercial organisations to arrange and coordinate the provision of the appropriate services by a variety of community organisations in the local area and sets standards to ensure that quality care is provided.

Applicants must first be assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) to determine their needs. Service packages are then tailored to meet those needs and can change over time as the recipient's needs change. The individual services can include:

• meal preparation
• housework, including laundry
• personal care, including help with bathing and dressing
• temporary in home respite
• home maintenance
• transport
• social activities

Before any services are provided, recipients should be offered an agreement to sign which clearly sets out their rights and responsibilities and those of the service package provider.

The above agreement may also provide for the payment of fees. Recipients who receive the maximum basic rate of pension cannot be asked to pay more than 17.5% of that pension. Those on higher incomes may be asked to pay additional fees, limited to 50% of any income above the maximum basic rate of pension.

You can find more information about CACP here.

You can find more information about the assessment process here.

There are also Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) and Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (Each D) programs.

You can find more informatiton about the full range of services and programs that are availabe to help you stay at home here.

Advocacy and Dispute Resolution

Advocacy services are available to help older people and people with a disability understand and exercise their rights. The services are generally free of charge and information, advice, support and representation can be provided on a confidential basis. Contact details are as follows:

The Commonwealth Government has established a free and independent service, known as the Aged Care Complaints Resolution Scheme to resolve disputes that cannot be resolved directly with the relevant service provider.

The Scheme can be contacted on 1800 550 552.

Day Therapy Centres

There are over 150 Commonwealth funded Day Therapy Centres (DTCs) operating nationally. They vary in size and in the range of therapy services that they provide. Therapy services, which may include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and podiatry, can be provided to frail aged people who are living in the community or who are residents of Commonwealth funded aged care homes. The aim of the program is to assist people to either maintain or recover a level of independence, which will allow them to remain either in the community or in low level residential care.

Further information about Day Therapy Centres and their locations may be obtained by contacting:

• Commonwealth Carelink Centres on 1800 052 222
• the Aged and Community Care Information Line on 1800 500 853.