Getting help paid for
Most families do not know that a lot of everyday help at home is subsidised, and the ones who do usually find out late — after months of paying privately, or after a crisis forces the question.
The system has its own language and it is part-way through a big change, which does not help. This cuts it down to what you actually need to do, and in what order.
The one thing that unlocks everything
Nearly all of it runs through a single free assessment. For anyone over 65 that is arranged through My Aged Care; for someone under 65 living with disability it is the NDIS.
The assessment is the step people skip, and the one that decides what is subsidised. It is also slow — weeks, sometimes months — so the useful move is to start it now and arrange something privately in the meantime if you need to.
My Aged Care, 1800 200 422. It is free, and the call to begin takes about twenty minutes.
The system is changing — the front door is not
You will see a few names: the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, Home Care Packages, and the newer Support at Home program that is replacing them. The detail of who gets what is moving, and My Aged Care holds the current version.
What has not changed, and will not, is where you start: that same free assessment. So do not wait until you understand the programs to ring — the assessment is what tells you which one you are in.
What AskFam does and does not do
AskFam works out what you need and points you at services that already exist. It does not employ anyone, does not arrange the work, and takes no fee or commission — from you or from them.
It also has not checked anybody. Where you see a business listed, that is a public listing, not a recommendation. Where somebody offers on a job you posted, that is them describing themselves, in their own words. Ask for what matters to you, and take your time about it.
- Home Care Packages, in plain words
- CHSP, or a Home Care Package?
- The My Aged Care assessment
- What does help at home cost?