The first step in accessing services is to contact My Aged Care – the Australian Government system that connects you with a full range of services for older people.
You can call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 or visit the My Aged Care websiteOpens in new tab.
If you're 65 and over (50 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people), you need to have a My Aged CareOpens in new tab assessment to apply. Call 1800 200 422 to access services.
If you're under 65 (under 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people), contact the National Disability Insurance AgencyOpens in new tab on 1800 800 110.
Funded by the Australian and Victorian governments.
Care Finders
Some older people need extra, intensive support to access aged care services and other supports in the community.
In these situations, a care finder may be able to help.
Care finders is a free service. It exists to support vulnerable people, who have no one else who can support them, to learn about, apply for and set up support services.
Who can use the care finder service?
The care finder service is not available for everyone. It is specifically for vulnerable older people, who need intensive support to access aged care and other local services.
To receive care finder support, a person must:
- have no carer or support person who can help them
- not have a carer or support person they feel comfortable or trust to support them
- be eligible for government-funded aged care.
In addition, they should have one or more of these reasons for needing intensive support:
- have difficulty communicating because of language or literacy problems
- find it difficult to understand information and make decisions
- be reluctant to engage with aged care or government
- be in an unsafe situation if they do not receive services.
Care finders can help vulnerable older people navigate the aged care system and find support services to improve their quality of life. Care finders can help with both accessing services for the first time and changing or finding new services and supports.
They can help someone with:
- talking to My Aged Care on their behalf and arranging an assessment
- attending and providing support at the assessment
- finding and short-listing aged care providers in their area
- completing forms and understanding aged care service agreements
- checking-in once services are up and running to make sure everything is OK
- solving other challenges and connecting to supports in the community, such as health, mental health, housing and homelessness, drug and alcohol services and community groups.
Care finder services that cover Melbourne include:
- cohealth – phone 9448 5536
- VincentCare – phone 8327 7400
- Wintringham – phone 9034 4824
- Housing for the Aged Action Group – phone 1300 765 178
