Aged care services support older people who need help at home or extra care that is not possible at home. It can help you stay at home longer and continue living a more fulfilling life.
Aged care helps you stay healthy, safe, maintain a good quality of life, stay connected to your community, be more independent and meet your cultural and social needs. Aged Care Services include help at home, short term care and aged care homes. The help you may be eligible to receive could include support for cleaning, cooking, assist you with personal care, social and cultural activities, nursing and transport for shopping and appointments.
If you need more care and support, and you want to stay living at home, you can get extra services like help with walking and physiotherapy. You may also be eligible to live in an aged care home if that is the best option for you.
The new Aged Care Act starts from 1 November 2025. It includes a Statement of Rights to help make sure you are at the centre of your aged care.
The importance of aged care services
Most of us want to be in control of decisions even when we have to deal with health and mobility challenges. That’s how the aged care system can help.
If you are struggling to manage some of the things you want and need to do as you get older, aged care support services can step in and help, enabling you to continue to live where and how you want for as long as possible.
Aged care should enable us to remain independent and in control of the way we want to live.
Who is eligible for aged care?
You may be wondering if you can get some help with day to day tasks around your home. Maybe you need some respite while your family is away or perhaps you are thinking that you may need to move into an aged care home… there are many services that can help you to maintain a good quality of life.
You may be eligible for government-funded aged care services if you need extra support to continue living well and you are 65 years of age or older, 50 years or older if you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person or are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Eligibility is based on different things like your health, how you are managing at home and what supports you may already have. There may also have been a change in what you can remember to do, had a fall or feel unsteady on your feet, had a recent hospital admission or changes in your family care arrangements. All this is determined by having an assessment or reaching out to ask for a reassessment.
There are four steps to get help if you need it:
- See what help you might need
- Get assessed
- Arrange your services
- Making sure that the services you get meet what you need
Depending on your eligibility, the government might fund your needs partially or entirely. If you’re not eligible you can find Independent Support Workers for the kind of support you need and pay privately with your own funds.
What types of aged care are available?
Aged care can come in different forms. These include:
Support at Home
Getting some extra help in your home can help you live life to the fullest as you age. Help at home looks different for different people.
It could be:
- help with shopping or assisting you to prepare a meal
- helping you to get out of your bed and assisting you to have a shower and get dressed
- having a wound dressed by a nurse or prompting you to have your medication
- transport to different places including getting you to medical appointments
- finding services that will help you get out and about so you can stay connected with your community and friends
- having some home modifications to improve your safety and movement around your home
Restorative Care: short-term care to help you improve your health and mobility
Short Term Care provides support services for a set period of time. The services that you receive can be different and do not need to be ongoing. They are aimed to be able to help you with your day to day tasks while you recover and to assist you in restoring or maintain your independence.
A new Support at Home program will replace the Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care Programme from 1 November 2025.
Learn more about the new Support at Home program
How long will it take to be allocated a Home Care Package?
Wait times are currently being affected by the change to the new program. It is hoped that wait times will be reduced from November when the Support at Home program replaces the Home Care Package Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Program.
Respite Care: temporary care to allow your carer to have a break
Respite Care supports you and your carer allowing you both a break for a short period of time. Respite can take place in your home, out in the community or for longer periods of time in a residential aged care home.
You do need to be approved for respite which happens when you are assessed. Respite for longer periods of time needs to be planned in advance but can also happen quickly if an emergency occurs.
Assistive technology and home modifications: products or changes to your home that support you to live safely at home
From 1 November 2025 there are changes, your aged care assessment will determine if you need products, equipment or home modifications to help you live safely and independently at home. For more information about this scheme you can speak to an aged care advocate by calling 9281 3600.
Residential aged care: living in an aged care home
For older people who can no longer live at home and need ongoing help with everyday tasks or health care.
When you live in an aged care home you receive services that meet your day to day needs, such as meals, laundry and social activities and help with bathing, eating and taking medications if needed. You have access to clinical care, such as nursing and other health care, if needed
End-of-life care: Help to stay at home in your last months of life
Extra funding to get the care you need to be at home if you have 3 months or less to live.
It can help you avoid having to go to hospital or an aged care home if you don’t want to.
Culturally safe aged care services
Services that offer a range of different, flexible types of aged care depending on community needs. Culturally safe aged care services recognise, respect and support the unique cultural identities, needs and rights of older people, ensuring they feel safe, comfortable and free from judgment, discrimination or racism. This may include understanding biases, adapting practices to individual cultural needs, providing language services and offering specific programs such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program for First Nations people.
How do I access aged care?
To access Government funded aged care services, you need to register with My Aged Care and get an aged care assessment. You will have the opportunity to discuss what services and support best suit your needs. Apply on the MyAgedCare website or phone 1800 200 422 to speak to someone at My Aged Care.
The Assessor will visit and you can have a representative or supporter with you while they discuss what you think you need to keep you safe and well. They will ask about what you can or can’t do, what support you already have and will talk about any health or mobility issues you might have.
Your assessor will help you connect with relevant service providers by letting you know about local service providers that may be able to help or they may send your referral directly to a chosen provider if that is what you would like, you can also choose to find your own provider by using the referral code they will provide.
A new rights-based framework
It’s important that your aged care service meets your individual needs, while also respecting your culture. Wherever you live or your circumstances, you have the right to culturally safe and appropriate aged care.
The new Act includes a Statement of Rights. This outlines the rights that older people in the aged care system should expect when looking for or accessing government funded aged care services. It includes rights like independence and autonomy, respect for privacy, safe and quality care, and the right to raise issues without fear of reprisal. Aged care service providers are legally obliged to deliver services to older people in line with the Statement of Rights.
Learn more about aged care rights
Hardship assistance for aged care
From 1 November 2025, financial hardship arrangements will be available if you can’t afford to contribute to the cost of your care. There is an assessment process, and your financial position will be considered when determining whether you are eligible for hardship assistance.
Services Australia manage all financial hardship applications and have an Aged Care line that you can call 1800 227 475 they are available Monday – Friday 8am to 5pm or you can pop into a Centre with an appointment and speak with an Aged Care Specialist Officer.
Hardship assistance for aged care – Fact sheet
Making a complaint
Complaints processes will be a primary pathway used to help older people to resolve concerns about their rights under the new act. When an older person, or someone connected to them, believes their rights are not being upheld, they should raise this with their provider in the first instance. All providers must have a complaints management system and process in place to address complaints and resolve issues quickly and fairly. If they don’t, older people and their supporters have the right to escalate the issue to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission without fear of punishment. An independent Complaints Commissioner will promote the independence, transparency, and accountability of complaints handling by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
Learn more about making a complaint
The new Act increases protections for whistleblowers – people who call out issues. Older people, families, representatives, and aged care workers can report a person or organisation who has not followed aged care law without fear that they will be punished or treated unfairly.
How much does aged care cost?
Assessments for aged care are completely free, however, you may have to contribute towards the services you need. The aged care costs you pay depend on the types of services and providers you use, for example, home care, short-term care or a residential aged care facility.
From 1 November 2025, aged care fees will change. This includes how much you and the government contribute and how these amounts are calculated.
The funding arrangement changes vary based on whether you are currently receiving a Home Care Package or are living in an aged care home.
Learn more about the changes to aged care funding
Free, independent and confidential help with aged care
Our Aged Care Advocates provide information and support to people using or seeking to access in home and residential aged care services.
More about our Aged Care Advocates
We are an accredited specialist community legal centre that provides free legal assistance on a range of aged care related issues and more to older people in NSW.
