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How to access Support at Home
The first step to apply for Support at Home or any aged care funding, is to register with My Aged Care. This takes place over a phone interview where My Aged Care employee screen you for urgency of where you will be put in the National Priority System. They will give you a unique My Aged Care number (AC number) which you will be asked for to access information on your aged care funding application going forward.
If you would like help dealing with the forms and processes, you can name a Support Person as your representative.
Once you are registered with My Aged Care, an aged care assessor will make an appointment to come to your home and assess your eligibility for residential and in-home aged care services with Support at Home using a needs-based Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT).
The My Aged Care assessor will ask you questions to determine:
- Your classification level – this is how much money you will be assigned for aged care services
- The categories of services you can access and their contribution status
- How urgently you need to have the services put in place
While some of the things they will ask you about have an obvious connection to aged care, the assessor will also be interested in your mental health and wellbeing; your lifestyle; how you get around in the community; your social network and if you have any other supports available to you. They will ask about your goals, what you like doing and what you want to continue to do as you age.
They will ask you about the following areas (click the box for more details):
Your physical and personal health
Your level of function
The level of complexity of your health conditions and your risk of vulnerability
Your cognitive capacity and psychosocial circumstances
Your home environment and personal safety
Your carer responsibilities and sustainability of caring
Your family, community, engagement and supports
Your goals, motivations and preferences
Support considerations
Some people are reluctant to share information about their vulnerabilities or intimate health details. We understand this may be uncomfortable, but there is nothing to worry about. You cannot be forced to change your arrangements or accept new arrangements by any aged care body or organisation.
Your rights are safe-guarded by the Aged Care Act 2024 and the associated Statement of Rights. Both the Act and the Statement of Rights were designed to protect your right to safe, quality and fair funded aged care services that treat you with dignity and respect.
Under the Act, you have the right to make your own decisions and have control over:
- what funded aged care services you use
- how you access funded aged care services and who provides them
- your money and belongings.
Choice, independence and quality of life
You have the right to choose how you live, even if there is some personal risk. The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards mandate aged care providers’ observance of this right, known as Dignity of Risk.
If you exercise dignity of risk, it means you have been made aware of the potential danger and harms it poses, and you have made the decision to proceed despite the risk.
Aged care providers are obliged to document this with the identified risks, any mitigation strategies that were discussed and or implemented, their recommendations and your choice and confirmation that you accept the risks associated with your choice.
The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards Standard 1. Outcome 1.3 states that older people should be supported and enabled to do things they want to do:
“The provider supports older people to live the best life they can, including by understanding the older person’s goals and preferences and enabling positive risk-taking that promotes the person’s autonomy and quality of life.”
This means you can decline care and refuse to disclose information if you wish to. Providers and care workers must support and respect your decisions, and where they are still able to, maintain a duty of care.
Advice for your My Aged Care Assessment
Mindful that you are in control, and your rights are protected, you will get the best outcome from your aged care assessments if you are:
- Honest and forthcoming with information about your health, history, susceptibilities and fears.
- Willing to share information on your life, your preferences and the existing support you have around you.
- Realistic and prepared for a future day where you may not be as active, agile or able as you are right now.
The purpose of aged care is not just to have support in place to help you live safely at home as you do now, but to ensure you can continue to remain active and independent for as long as possible.
Help for older people, family members or carers
We have heard feedback from so many people that the aged care system is complex and confusing to understand. Many people don’t know what funding an older person is eligible to receive or how to access it. Finding the information that is relevant to you or your loved one’s specific situation can be difficult and frustrating, particularly when you’re juggling other responsibilities in your life.
For this reason, we established a service at Your Side to help people in the early stages of their journey seeking aged care.
We have a dedicated role called the Aged Care Support Specialist, who knows all the ins and outs of the aged care system and how it works. These team members go out in the community to share information and answer your questions and will visit you at home if that is more convenient for you.
They can check on the status of your application or funding through My Aged Care, and advocate on your behalf for an assessment or an upgrade to a higher level of funding.
Contact our Aged Care Support Specialists on: 1300 134 332.
The Aged Care Support Specialist can advise what you are eligible for, how to apply; and give you the information you need to take action and make decisions that are right for you. This is a free, no-obligation service.
