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What Can I Spend My Home Care Package On?


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If you have been approved for a Home Care Package, it is worth reading through this list of approved and not approved services that your home care provider can offer.

Home Care Packages: Approved Services

Personal Services

Personal assistance including individual attention, individual supervision and physical assistance with:

  • Bathing, showering, providing shower chairs if necessary, personal hygiene and grooming, and using dressing aids
  • Toileting
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Mobility
  • Transfer (including in and out of bed)

Activities of Daily Living

  • Personal assistance
  • Assistance with communication including assistance to address difficulties arising from impaired hearing, sight or speech or lack of common language
  • Assistance with fitting sensory communication aids and checking hearing aid batteries
  • Cleaning glasses/spectacles
  • Assistance using the telephone

Nutrition, Hydration, Meal Preparation and Diet

  • Assistance with preparing meals
  • Assistance with a special diet for health, religious or cultural reasons
  • Assistance with using eating utensils and eating aids
  • Assistance feeding
  • Providing enteral feeding formula and equipment

Management of Skin Integrity

  • Includes providing bandages, dressings and skin emollients

Continence Management

  • Disposable pads and absorbent aids
  • Commode chairs
  • Bedpans and urinals
  • Catheter and urinary drainage appliances
  • Enemas
  • Assistance in using the above aids

Mobility and Dexterity

  • Crutches, quadruped walkers, walking frames, walking sticks and wheelchairs
  • Mechanical devices for lifting
  • Bed rails, slide sheets, sheepskins, tri-pillows and pressure relieving mattresses
  • Assistance in using the above aids

Support Services

  • Cleaning
  • Personal laundry services including clothing and bedding that can be machine-washed
  • Ironing
  • Arranging for dry cleaning
  • Gardening
  • Medication management
  • Rehabilitative support
  • Emotional support
  • Support for care recipients with cognitive impairment
  • 24-hour on-call access to an emergency call system
  • Transport and personal assistance to help the care recipient shop, visit health practitioners or attend social activities
  • Respite care
  • Home and garden maintenance
  • Modifications to the home such as easy access taps, shower hose or bath rails
  • Arranging social activities

Leisure, Interests and Activities

  • Encouragement to take part in social and community activities that promote and protect the care recipient’s lifestyle, interests and wellbeing

Clinical Care

  • Nursing care
  • Allied health and therapy services (speech therapy, podiatry, occupational or physiotherapy services)
  • Other clinical services such as hearing and vision services

Home Care Packages: Excluded Services

The following list specifies the items that must NOT be included in a Home Care Package

Excluded Items:

  • General income
  • Purchase of food
  • Payment for permanent accommodation (home purchase, mortgage payments or rent)
  • Payment of home care fees
  • Payment for fees or charges for other types of care funded or jointly funded by the government
  • Home modifications that are not related to the care recipient’s care needs
  • Travel and accommodation for holidays
  • Cost of entertainment activities (club memberships, tickets to events etc)
  • Gambling activities
  • Payment for services and items covered by the Medicare Benefits Schedule or the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

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