NDIS & MY
AGED CARE SUPPORT

Balert Care Connections

Our Balert Care Connections team are here to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate personal care, domestic services and support for our older community members to remain living independently, and to our community members living with a disability. Our NDIS and Aged Care support program is collectively known as "Balert Care Connections", with Balert meaning "Strong" in Wadda Wurrung language.

BALERT CARE SERVICES

Our Balert Care Connections team can assist NDIS and Aged Care community members with a range of services:

AGED CARE SUPPORT

At Wathaurong, we provide individually planned and coordinated supports for older people to remain living independently, the way you would like.

You will have your own personal Case Manager who will work with you to meet your individual needs and organise a care team to provide services and support.

The types of services that may be provided as part of a package include:

Basic garden and home maintenance

Assistance with personal care

Nursing care, including medication management

Social support

In-home domestic assistance

Meal preparation

Transport to appointments

Respite

Case Management support

Advocacy

The Home Care Package program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. Visit the My Aged Care website for more information.

Who can access Wathaurong Home Care Services?

This service is available to older Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander (+50) people who have an applicable approved Home Care Package following a My Aged Care Assessment. The first step is to contact My Aged Care for your assessment - we can support you or you can call My Aged Care direct on 1800 200 422 or visit their website at www.myagedcare.gov.au. When completing your assessment with My Aged Care, ask to be referred to Wathaurong.

What does it cost?

This service is free for Older Adults with a full aged pension and approved package. For Older Adults with a part pension or other circumstances, a Medicare assessed client contribution may apply. Contact Wathaurong for further details.

The Wathaurong Home Care Package program encourages people to actively participate in planning their services.

COMMONWEALTH HOME SUPPORT PROGRAM (CHSP)

The Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) is funded by the Commonwealth Government Department of Health. The program is a basic-needs home support government program that supports Australians over the age of 65 (or 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) who wish to continue staying at home but want additional support, such as household help, meal preparation or delivery, personal care and transport. The services are subsidised by the government and come at a low cost to you. CHSP is used when you need low-level of support. If the complexity of your needs increases you can be referred for a Home Care Package.

Wathaurong CHSP services include:

Domestic Assistance

Flexible Respite

Home Maintenance

The primary goals of CHSP are to provide the following:

To provide basic level assistance to people who are, for the most part, able to cope on their own
To support people to be more independent at home and in the community
To keep people in their own homes and communities for as long as possible
to work with the local community to make sure it is more welcoming and inclusive for people with disability.

NDIS

What is the NDIS?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is called the NDIS. It's a new way for people with a disability under the age of 65 to get the care and supports they need.

The NDIS is for people with a permanent and significant disability which impacts on their ability to take part in everyday activities.

If you are eligible, you will work out what reasonable and necessary supports you need to live your life and achieve your goals. You'll then receive funding to pay for these support.

Before the NDIS was introduced, disability services in Australia had been a lottery. The funding you received depended on how, when and where you acquired your disability, as well as where you lived. Some people had enough funding, some people got none - really it was all just a bit unfair!

So, after they held an inquiry, the Federal Government agreed that people with a disability deserved a fairer system. And, more control!

In July 2013, the NDIS was introduced. The rollout across the country was completed in mid 2020.

Eligibility for the NDIS depends on a few different things such as:

Age: You need to be under 65 years at the time of your application
Residency: You need to be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen who holds a Protected Special Category Visa
Disability: You must have a permanent disbality that significantly affects how you can communicate, move, care for yourself, or manage your life

What is Support Coordination?

Our Support Coordination service connects NDIS participants with informal, mainstream and specialist services. We work with you to build independence and improve quality of life and support you to overcome any barriers that you may encounter. A trained Support Coordinator will work with you to ensure you have access to the required supports to achieve the goals outlined in your NDIS plan.

When you have an NDIS plan, you can decide which service providers you work with. Some people find and coordinate their services themselves, but it can be quite difficult. That's when Support Coordination might be included in your NDIS plan.

Support Coordinators can help you find mainstream and other disability services that are right for you. At Wathaurong, we provide coordination of supports. You will need to have funding for this included in your NDIS plan, to access these services.

Your needs will always come first. We will also chat with you to make sure that our services are just the right fit.

What can Support Coordinators help me with?

Support Coordinators can help you find and connect with different mainstream services. This could be a TAFE course, a physiotherapist, or even getting a mental health plan through your GP. They can also help you:

Be a part of your community

Understand your NDIS plan

Understand your budget

Work out the best way to spend your funds

Use the myGov website and NDIS Participant Portal

Prepare for your NDIS plan review

The Support Coordinators job is to make sure they find the best option for you by looking at all the choices on the table. Support Coordination is funded under Capacity Building - Support Coordination in your NDIS plan. If you do not have Support Coordination in your plan, you (or your nominee) will need to do these tasks.

Please note - we bill in line with the NDIS Price Guide, which generally increases annually.

For more information on whether you are eligible for the NDIS and how the NDIS planning process works, visit the NDIS website.

SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY

Under the NDIS, Social and Community Services are about supporting people with a disability to take part in their community.

This is just another way of saying it's about getting out and about, meeting people, and trying new things!

Sometimes you could head out for activities such as swimming or horse-riding, or you might choose to do an art or music class instead.

Social and Community Participation services are funded under one of the following in your NDIS plan:

Core - Assistance with Social and Community Participation

Capacity Building - Increased Social & Community Participation

Or you can chat with our team about you might use funding from other support categories!

Please note: We bill in line with the NDIS Price Guide, which generally increases annually.

Getting our and about is important, so we support NDIS participants to be active in the community. We'll connect you with a trained Support Worker who can support you to attend and participate in a range of outings that include (but not limited to):

Medical and personal appointments

Sport and entertainment

Visiting family and friends

Other recreation and public events

Interested in something new? We can support you to explore new events and experiences in the community. We can also assist with transport and mobility, contact us to discuss your interests and how we can keep you active.