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Help to stay at home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
This information is for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who live in a rural or remote area.
The Australian Government is improving aged care services that are geared to your needs through the following initiatives.
Home and Community Care services (more information)
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HACC Reference Group (more information) works with the national HACC program managers to increase access to and quality of services for Aboriginal and Torres Islander people.
The Home and Community Care (HACC) program aims to provide you with a basic range of maintenance and support services to help you stay at home. The services are provided by government, community, privately, and by church or charitable organisations throughout Australia, including rural and regional areas. Services offered by HACC include:
- nursing care such as: home nursing, domiciliary nursing, assistance with continence management, all in your own home
home help, including housework, washing and shopping - home maintenance and modification
- personal care, such as help with bathing, dressing and eating
- meals on wheels and day centre-based meals
- ancillary health services like podiatry and speech therapy
- community-based respite care (day care)
- transport
- assessment and/or referral services
- information and advocacy services
- social support (including neighbour aid), and
- carer support.
To get in contact with your nearest HACC services, use the ‘Talk to someone about this’ box in the right hand corner of this page or call a Commonwealth Carelink Centre (more information) on 1800 052 222.
Read more: About the Home and Community Care program
Next step: Community Care Service Finder
Commonwealth Carer Resource Centres
These centres provide information about counselling, support and educational programs for carers, with specific information for carers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
Short-term care
There are many Commonwealth Carer Respite Centres located in metropolitan, rural and remote areas across Australia. They can help to arrange respite care if your carer needs a break, including 24-hour emergency respite cover, contact them on their free number 1800 059 059. If you want additional information on these services, you can contact your nearest Commonwealth Carelink Centre on 1800 052 222 (free call).
Common questions on this topic:
- What help is there for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
- What aged care support is available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
- I'm an Aboriginal person - is there a palliative care program that would suit me?
See more common questions on this topic | See all common questions
