Aged care questions, answered

It replaced Home Care Packages and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme on 1 November 2025, and it funds services that help you keep living in your own home as your needs change. Funding is allocated to you by the government, and you choose the provider who delivers the services.

Eligibility is decided by the government assessment process, not by Highfield Care. If you are not sure whether you qualify, the quickest answer comes from calling My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.

Highfield Care works with clients on Home Care Packages as well as Support at Home, so a transfer does not mean changing the care you receive.

For most families the practical difference is that services are grouped by the type of support you need, and personal care is fully government-funded from 1 October 2026.

Funded care is arranged with registered aged care providers, and the services you receive are the same either way — the same carers, the same matching and the same scheduling, whether the government is paying for your care or you are paying for it yourself.

Highfield Care cannot approve funding, increase it, or predict the outcome of an assessment. What we can do is help you prepare for the assessment, explain what happens next, and tell you honestly what your funding will cover once it is confirmed.

Nothing about private care is second-rate: you get the same carers, the same matching and the same scheduling. The difference is simply who pays, and we will set that out in writing before anything begins.

Respite is support that gives the person who usually cares for you a break, and it can be planned in advance or arranged at short notice when something unexpected happens.

My Aged Care is the government's single entry point for aged care, and starting there is what puts your funding in motion. You do not need a referral from a doctor.

They look at things like showering, dressing, meals, mobility, memory and safety at home. The outcome determines which services you are funded for; it is not a test you can pass or fail.

That means the only wait left is the funding itself, not our paperwork — families often expect weeks of setup on the provider side, and with us there are not any. The part that does take time is the funding — what happens while you wait for Support at Home sets out the real timelines.

We cannot sit the assessment for you or influence its result, and we will not pretend otherwise.

If you are coming home from hospital, call us before the discharge date if you can, so we can have things ready. See our guide to coming home from hospital.

Around Noosa that includes Noosa Heads, Noosaville, Tewantin, Peregian Beach, Peregian Springs, Sunshine Beach, Doonan, Cooroy, Pomona and nearby towns; across the wider coast it includes Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Buderim, Sippy Downs, Coolum Beach, Nambour, Caloundra and Birtinya. If your suburb is not listed, call us — we will give you a straight answer about whether we can reach you.

It is a plain document, and we will go through it with you before you sign. If you later decide to change providers, the government has a defined transfer process, which we set out in our guide to switching home care providers.

You have one point of contact and one team accountable for how it all fits together, so nothing lands back on you to organise.

It is the most personal support we provide, which is why we match carers carefully and keep the same person wherever possible. Personal care under Support at Home is fully government-funded from 1 October 2026.

It usually means consistent carers, familiar routines, patient communication and a home set up to reduce confusion. It also means supporting the family, who are often carrying most of the load.

It is often what makes the difference between managing at home and not, and it can be funded through your Support at Home budget depending on your assessment.

Nursing, wound care, medication support, allied health and other clinical services are scheduled and coordinated alongside your other care, so you deal with one point of contact instead of several organisations. If your needs change and become more clinical, tell us — coordinating that is exactly the kind of thing we would rather hear about early.

What is available depends on your assessment and your location, so the honest answer is to ask us when you enquire and we will confirm what we can put in place for you.

If you need a particular time of day — mornings for showering and dressing, or an evening visit before bed — tell us at the start and we will build the roster around it.

Consistency is also safer, because a familiar carer notices change earlier than a stranger does.

We do not send anyone into a client's home on the strength of a resume alone.

We present matched options, you tell us what you think, and if a carer is not the right fit we find you another one. Being honest about this early is far better than quietly putting up with it for months.

Where the visit can be moved instead of covered, we will ask you which you would prefer. Your care does not stop because one person is away.

This is a normal part of matching, not a special request, and it affects how at ease you feel in your own home.

Most people receiving Support at Home make a contribution set by Services Australia, and personal care is fully government-funded from 1 October 2026. Your exact figures will be in your service agreement before services begin.

No two people pay the same, because it depends on what the government assesses you as needing and on your income-based contribution, and personal care under Support at Home is fully government-funded from 1 October 2026. When you call we will tell you what applies to your situation and put the figures in writing before anything starts.

Services Australia publishes how contributions are worked out. If you want to understand your own figures, My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 can talk you through them.

The answers belong in your service agreement, and any provider who is reluctant to put them in writing is telling you something useful.

These are legal rights, not favours, and they apply to every provider.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, which handles complaints about aged care providers, or the Older Persons Advocacy Network for free, independent support. You never need our permission to do either.

This website and our general enquiry line are not for emergencies and are not monitored around the clock. Once the immediate situation is handled, call us and we will work out how your care needs to change.