Eligibility for a Government subsidised Home Care Package (HCP) is determined by your in home care needs which are assessed by your local Aged Care Assessment Team (commonly known as ACAT).

ACAT operate out of your local public hospital. They visit your loved one in their home to assess:

• their in home care needs;

• decide which of the 4 levels of Home Care Package they need;

• decide what priority they will have on the waiting list for their Home Care Package called the National Prioritisation List (NPL), managed by My Aged Care.

You don’t need to read the full Government Guidelines for in Home Care Package issued by the Australian Government, Department of Social Services, here is the eligibility criteria:

‘for a person to be eligible for a Home Care Package, the person must:

• be assessed as having needs that can only be met by a co-ordinated Home Care Package of home care and nursing services;

• be assessed as requiring a low level of home care (for home care levels 1 or 2) or a high level of home care (for home care levels 3 or 4);

• have expressed a preference to live at home (includes a resident in independent living and assisted living (hostel) in a retirement village);

• be able to remain living at home with the support of a Home Care Package;

• for a person who is not an aged person – have no other care facilities or care services more appropriate to meet the person’s needs.’