CarePlan.au
CarePlan.au

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For clients and families

Whether you're sorting out care for a parent from the other side of the country or organising your own, start with where you're up to.

  1. Nobody has been assessed yet

    Everything starts with an assessment through My Aged Care. Call 1800 200 422 or apply online. You can apply on someone's behalf with their permission. Have their Medicare card handy and a list of what they're finding hard.

  2. Assessed, and waiting for funding

    The letter tells you the classification and the services approved. Use the wait to choose a provider, ask about their prices and whether they support self-management, and line up local workers you'd like to use.

  3. Funding has started

    Now it's about turning the budget into help that actually turns up. Agree prices in writing, get your chosen workers approved, and read the first few monthly statements closely.

  4. Care is running, but something's wrong

    Unspent money piling up, invoices bouncing, a provider that doesn't call back. Write down what's happening and when, then work through it one step at a time. You can get free advocacy too.

Drone panorama of Betka Beach near Mallacoota, where the river meets the sea between bushland and sand.
Betka Beach and river mouth, February 2025. Photo: Colin Dixon

Where the money goes

Each quarter, classification 4: $7,617.13

  • 10% to the provider for care management: $761.71
  • Left for services: $6,855.42

An hour of cleaning priced at $80.00, on a full pension

  • From the budget: $66.00
  • You pay (17.5%): $14.00

A self-managed local worker at $66.00 an hour

  • The worker: $66.00
  • Most the provider can add (10%): $6.60
Budgets current at 01/07/2026. Contribution shown for a full pensioner on an everyday living service who joined Support at Home after it began; it's 5% for independence services and nothing for clinical care. People on, or approved for, a Home Care Package by 12 September 2024 pay what they did before or less under the no worse off rule, and a full pensioner in that group usually pays nothing. Prices are examples.

Helping from far away

A lot of aged care is organised by a son or daughter in another city, on the phone in a lunch break. It works better with a few things in place: written permission from your parent so the provider can talk to you, a copy of the assessment letter, and one shared place where you note what was asked, who said what, and when.

The claims tracker is a simple version of that shared place. It lives on your phone, and you can export it and send it to a brother or sister.

Free help you're entitled to

My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 for assessments and questions about the system.

OPAN, the Older Persons Advocacy Network, on 1800 700 600. Free, independent advocates who can help you deal with a provider.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822, if a complaint to the provider goes nowhere.

Guides for families

  1. Support at Home in plain English What Support at Home is, who can get it, how the budget works, and what you might pay. The place to start if aged care is new to you. Checked 22/10/2026. 7 minute read.
  2. How to apply for an aged care assessment, step by step The first step to Support at Home. How to apply online or by phone, what you'll need, and how to get ready for the assessor's visit. Checked 22/10/2026. 5 minute read.
  3. Self-managing: what you can do, and what your provider still has to do The government rules let you do far more yourself than many providers suggest. Here's the line between the rules and a provider's own policy. Checked 22/10/2026. 6 minute read.
  4. Finding and engaging an independent worker How to find a good local worker, what to check before they start, and how to get your provider to approve them. Checked 22/10/2026. 6 minute read.
  5. Personal alarms for older people, and how Support at Home can pay Home alarms, mobile alarms and falls detection explained without the sales pitch. What to check before you buy, and the funding that can cover it. Checked 22/10/2026. 6 minute read.
  6. Reading your monthly statement and the fees on it What the lines on a Support at Home statement mean, which charges are capped, and the questions worth asking your provider. Checked 22/10/2026. 6 minute read.
  7. When an invoice is rejected or a payment is late A calm, step-by-step way to get a stuck invoice or claim moving, and where to go if the provider won't fix it. Checked 22/10/2026. 5 minute read.
  8. How to spot a scam before it costs you A fake sale nearly cost me about US$1,100. What gave it away, the signs to look for, and exactly what to do if you've been caught. Checked 22/10/2026. 6 minute read.
  9. Finding an occupational therapist by video when you live in the country There was no occupational therapist anywhere near us. Here's how I found a good one for Mum in two hours, and why video sessions worked. Checked 22/10/2026. 4 minute read.