1. The Commonwealth Home Care Program
Is a Commonwealth program to support eligible people to stay in their own home.
The Home Care program can be delivered in 3 ways.
There are daily charges and an income tested fees to access a Home Care package
The Commonwealth has created a single online portal for the aged care system called My Aged Care, which can be linked into the MyGov portal.
The system is complex, not intuitive & hard to navigate even for fit& well mented people.

2. Pathway to the Home Care Program

3. Four Levels of Home Care packages
Basic care needs
$22.04/day
$8044/year
Level 2
Low-level care needs
$40.09/day
$14632/year
Level 3
Intermediate-high care needs
$88.14/day
$32171/year
Level 4
High level care needs
$133.99/day
$48906/year
Amount of services
Minimal support required eg 2nd weekly cleaning Multitude of services required eg showering, cleaning, transport ,daily care
* Unspent funds accumulate across financial years

4. Process for accessing Home Care package
Referral & Assessment:
Assessment requested through My Aged Care and completed by ACAS/ACAT
Assessment determines need and level of care.
Waitlist & Search
Consumer to complete an income and assets assessment
Register on the National queue (waitlist) through My Aged Care
Wait on the National Queue for approved package to be allocated .
Once allocated, find a suitable agency to deliver your package (after Feb ‘17)
Program Delivery
Complete Home Care agreement with delivery agency including fees and charges
Agree to service arrangements and delivery of program.

5. Costs for Home Care Packages
Basic Daily fee
Up o 17.5% of single basic pension($9.97 per day
or $ per fortnight)
Negotiable and charged by the agency
Adjusted biannually in line with changes to aged
pension.
No income tested fee is annual income below:
$25792 per individual,
$25323 couple separated by illness (individual
income)
$40050 couple living together (combined income)
Income tested fee
Non negotiable and assessed by Centrelink or
DVA.
There are yearly and lifetime caps that apply to
income tested fees:
$5208 annual cap for part pensioners
$10416 annual cap for self funded retirees
$62498 lifetime cap (also counted in resi care)
Income and assets assessment form is complex
and time consuming with slow outcomes.