About Home Care
What is Home Care?
Have you noticed that you or your loved one might need some more assistance at home? It’s important to have an open conversation with your family about the kinds of care that would help. Recognising the need for extra support can be a big step, both for people who need care and carers themselves. The Australian Government recognises Home Care and offers funding support for older Australians to receive this service.
Why do I need it?
If you’re aged 65+, you might first recognise that you need a little more help around your home and that government funding might be available to you. The goal of home care is to help you or your loved one stay independent and continue doing what makes you, you; all from the familiar surrounds of your own home. Research has shown that accessing support can delay entry into permanent care and can extend quality of life.
Here are some benefits to receiving home care:
- improved sense of purpose, autonomy and self-worth
- improved physical and emotional health and wellbeing
- increased ability to remain living independently and safely in your own home for longer
- greater quality of life and retention of pride and dignity
- improved connection with community
- reduced strain on family and carer relationships
Who is Home Care for?
How much does it cost?
As a Not-For-Profit organisation, our mission is never about generating profits, but delivering an impactful community service, which we believe leads to better care.
The first thing to know is that there are options for funding your home care services, including:
- Paying for the services out of your own pocket
- Applying for Government funding via a Home Care Package, Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) or Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Veterans' Home Care funding.
Visit our 'How are services funded' page for more information.
Let’s find the perfect fit
We want to give you the most relevant information to fit your needs. Choose which step of the Home Care process you’re at and we will provide the information that is relevant to you.
Benetas is nearby
We offer a range of Home Care services across Victoria
Check your postcode to see if we have services in your area
Show availablityHome Care Information
Click on the options below to learn more about Home Care
My Aged Care is your gateway to obtaining Australian Government funding for support at home known as a ‘Home Care Package’.
We recommend you apply for any government support as soon as possible because it can take up to a year or more to be allocated individual funding support.
This process will involve a preliminary assessment conducted by My Aged Care over the phone. It’s good to have an idea of what services you may need as it will help the operator better assist you.
Following your initial screening, you’ll schedule an in-home assessment whereby an Aged Care Assessment Services (ACAS) consultant will visit your home to understand your individual needs to co-develop a support plan.
The ACAS assessor, who is a fully qualified medical practitioner, will make recommendations and apply service codes to your My Aged Care portal.
There are 4 income-tested funding levels, and this is determined by your ACAS assessor. You will learn what level you’ve been assigned when you receive your confirmation letter from My Aged Care.
The government assessment process can take time, so if you need services immediately or don't want to wait, you could consider paying privately for your home care.
In fact, if you choose to privately fund your services, we’re often able to start providing home care within 3-5 business days
You might also choose to pay privately for other services like In-Home Nursing or Respite Services.
Have you moved to an area that is not serviced by your current provider, or simply not happy with the care service you're receiving? You can move your package over to Benetas and have any unspent subsidy come with you.
Find out how the transfer process works here
After the transfer’s complete, we can begin providing our support so you or your loved one can stay independent at home.
If your current provider has an exit fee, we can show you how to avoid it. Exit fees can only be withdrawn from unspent funds – if you spend all your subsidy, you can’t be charged.
To understand how this works or learn how Benetas is different from your current provider, call us on 1300 23 63 82
If you’re caring for an older person, it’s important to care for yourself. Benetas respite services can take care of your loved one while you take some much-needed time for yourself and catch up on the things you need to do.
Carers do incredible work, but all too often ignore their own wellbeing. That’s why we support them as well as the people they care for.
Respite options include:
- Centre-based respite
- Overnight respite
- Flexible respite in your home
- Respite in a Residentail Aged Care home
Find out more on our Respite page, or call us directly on:
1300 23 63 82
English is not my mum’s first language, and we struggled to navigate the government subsidy system with her, until Benetas came along.