Current location
You are here: help staying at home > what help is available? > what programs are available? > home and comunity care program > home and community careHelp staying at home
Home and Community Care
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 the community, privately, and by church or charitable organisations throughout Australia.
- How can HACC help me?
- How to access HACC
- Eligibility
- Cost
- Rights and responsibilities
- Standards of care
- Do you have a complaint?
How can HACC help me?
The HACC Program can help you with services such as:
- nursing care, including home nursing, assistance with continence management, all in your own home
- home help, such as 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.
How to access HACC
To access HACC you can contact your local HACC provider directly, such as a Meals on Wheels service, to discuss your needs and adjust them as your requirements change.
And remember, should you develop more complex care needs you should enquire about other community services, such as Community Aged Care Packages (more information), Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) (more information) and EACH Dementia (more information). Each HACC service provider will assess you to determine the appropriate level of service for you.
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 the Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre on 1800 052 222 (free call) during business hours or, for emergency respite support outside standard business hours, call 1800 059 059 (free call).
Eligibility
HACC services are designed for people who need support to continue living in the community and who are older and frail or who have a disability. So if you have difficulties with everyday tasks, such as getting dressed or showering, this could well be the extra support you need. HACC services are designed to reach people with the greatest level of need, as decided by HACC service providers.
To be eligible for the HACC Program you must:
- be living at home
- be an older and frail person, or a person with a disability
- have difficulty doing everyday tasks such as dressing or preparing meals
- be a carer of a frail older person or person with a disability, or
- be likely to need to go into an aged care home or a hospital for care if you were not being provided with support from HACC.
Cost
Some services charge a small fee that varies between states and territories – check with your local HACC service about the costs of the particular services you need. These vary according to your income and the number of services you use. Special arrangements may be made if you cannot afford to pay.
Rights and responsibilities
Community care service providers are expected to comply with obligations under laws such as the Aged Care Act 1997. Under these laws you have the right to be treated respectfully and be informed and consulted about your care.
Read more: Rights and responsibilities
Standards of care
The HACC Program operates under a comprehensive quality framework to ensure that acceptable standards of service provision and program administration are maintained. The National Guidelines for HACC Service Standards provide agencies with a nationally consistent approach to the quality and delivery of all HACC funded. Agencies funded through the HACC Program are required to report on aspects of quality, including standards. The Standards Instrument was developed to provide a consistent method for evaluating and monitoring the quality of service provision, as well as assist in the planning aspects of the service delivery system on a regional, state, territory and national level.
Do you have a complaint?
If you have any concerns about the care being provided, it’s often best to raise your concerns, in the first instance, with the service provider. However, if you’re unable to resolve the issue or prefer not to complain directly to the service provider, the Aged Care Complaints Investigation Scheme is a free service that seeks to resolve your complaints about your health, safety and/or welfare – and it’s available to your relatives, guardians or representatives as well.
Read more: How to make a complaint
Common questions on this topic:
See all common questions
