What is a Home Care Package?
A Home Care Package is a pool of funding you receive from the government to help you live safely and independently at home and stay connected to your community.
Your Home Care Package funding can be used to access a range of services, such as nursing and allied health as well as household and personal support.
Home Care Packages are designed to support older people who need more assistance than the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) can provide.
There are 4 levels of care on a Home Care Package:
- Level 1: Basic care needs (may include help with everyday tasks such as cleaning, meal preparation and gardening)
- Level 2: Low care needs (may include household and personal help, and nursing)
- Level 3: Medium care needs (may include household and personal help, and nursing)
- Level 4: High care needs (for people with complex care needs who are eligible for residential aged care but would prefer to stay at home)
Who is eligible for a Home Care Package?
Home Care Packages are available to anyone aged 65 and over (or 50 and over for First Nations people) who needs services to help them continue living at home, and:
- is at high risk of being admitted to residential care but wants to stay at home
- lives alone or has a carer who needs support to care for them
- needs support, advocacy or monitoring to live well at home
- needs ongoing case management to plan, coordinate, monitor and match services to their care needs
- has complex needs and requires flexible services and/or more services than are currently available
- needs services or resources that are not currently available through other programs.
To be eligible to choose Merri Health as your Home Care Package provider, you must live in North or West metropolitan Melbourne.
How can I apply for a Home Care Package?
The Commonwealth Government funds all Home Care Packages. To apply, you need to follow the steps below.
To begin, check whether you or your loved one are eligible for government-funded aged care services by visiting the My Aged Care website or calling 1800 200 422 to speak to the My Aged Care staff.
If you are eligible, My Aged Care will help you book an assessment with your local Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS).
An assessor from My Aged Care will visit you at home to perform your assessment. They will ask questions to find out what sort of help you need and the care level that best suits your needs. You will not need to pay for this assessment.
After your assessment, My Aged Care will send you a letter to tell you if you are approved for a Home Care Package, and which level of care you can receive.
You will then be added to a government waitlist. The more complex your care needs are, the higher you will be on the waitlist, so you won’t have to wait as long for your package.
You will receive another letter from My Aged Care when your care package is allocated.
After your care package is allocated, you will have 56 days to choose a Home Care Package provider such as Merri Health and sign an agreement with them (a 28-day extension is also available if needed).
If you choose Merri Health, one of our friendly care advisors will work with you and your support network to help match you with the services you need to live better at home.
When you choose Merri Health, one of our friendly care advisors will work with you and your support network to help match you with the services you need to live better at home.
Have a question that isn’t answered here?
Contact us to discuss your or your loved ones needs and we will be happy to help.
