CanberrainOz Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Could anyone tell me if an elderly family member on the bridging visa can access My Aged Care? We had assumed not and yet a local community services team member has contacted My Aged Care to check, and they are aware of no reason why not. Just wondered if anyone had anything more concrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 There are no citizenship or residency restrictions on Home Care Packages. They are not meant for visitors to Australia or people who need only temporary or short-term care. I don't know if this varies from state to state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 2 hours ago, CanberrainOz said: Could anyone tell me if an elderly family member on the bridging visa can access My Aged Care? We had assumed not and yet a local community services team member has contacted My Aged Care to check, and they are aware of no reason why not. Just wondered if anyone had anything more concrete. Very often, the people in the office have no idea about visas. That can count in your favour. For instance, officially bridging visa holders should only get reciprocal care but often they manage to get issued a full Medicare card. People on temporary visas aren't supposed to be eligible for any government-subsidised benefits, because they have never contributed to the system (and with my Australian taxpayer hat on, I feel a bit miffed if they are allowed to), but if it happens with Medicare, it probably happens with things like My Aged Care too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) 37 minutes ago, Marisawright said: Very often, the people in the office have no idea about visas. That can count in your favour. For instance, officially bridging visa holders should only get reciprocal care but often they manage to get issued a full Medicare card. People on temporary visas aren't supposed to be eligible for any government-subsidised benefits, because they have never contributed to the system (and with my Australian taxpayer hat on, I feel a bit miffed if they are allowed to), but if it happens with Medicare, it probably happens with things like My Aged Care too. Sometimes it’s down to the right questions being asked, as it doesn’t cross the person asking the questions that you aren’t Australian, so visa status questions don’t arise. We had a seniors card issued, it never occurred to us that we might not be eligible, likewise home assist.we were asked if we were pensioners, we answered truthfully yes, never gave it a thought.. This was when we were on the long term self funded temporary retirement visa. Similar to using to use the NHS several times on our regular annual visits. We explained we had travel insurance, don’t need that it’s not a problem, there are reciprocal rights between Australia and UK. We tried to explain that we were on a temporary visa without reciprocal rights. In the too hard basket, appointment made every time to see a Dr, or practice nurse no cost. We didn’t feel too bad though as we had never stopped paying all our tax in the UK. Edited March 5, 2022 by ramot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 9 hours ago, CanberrainOz said: Could anyone tell me if an elderly family member on the bridging visa can access My Aged Care? We had assumed not and yet a local community services team member has contacted My Aged Care to check, and they are aware of no reason why not. Just wondered if anyone had anything more concrete. I worked on the implementation of my aged care, but will say I have been out of Australia for over 3 years so not up to date! The staff on the my aged care phone line are just call centre staff. Everyone is entitled to an aged care assessment. That assessment will state your needs and if you meet threshold for assistance and at what level. There is no residency question on these assessments. Assessors are health and social staff not immigration. It will be when the government is required to pay that any issue will make itself known. This is federal government territory so will be the same across Australia. My advice would be to get an assessment, it’s free. Then if approved you will be required to complete a financial assessment. It will now depend on income as there is a scale of what you pay towards care based on that. You might find that it will be cheaper to pay privately for what you need than what a home care package will cost. At this point you still haven’t committed to anything so can make a decision with more facts to hand. Everyone is expected to contribute something towards their care, so there will be a cost, your income decides how much that is. When I say you I mean the person needing the care! Get an assessment, it’s free. Just thinking if you go onto the my aged care website you might be able to plug in their income and see the costs, think they had that on the website. Good luck. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanberrainOz Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 Thank you so much for this Amber, and everyone else that has commented. Much appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 29 minutes ago, Amber Snowball said: I worked on the implementation of my aged care, but will say I have been out of Australia for over 3 years so not up to date! The staff on the my aged care phone line are just call centre staff. Everyone is entitled to an aged care assessment. That assessment will state your needs and if you meet threshold for assistance and at what level. There is no residency question on these assessments. Assessors are health and social staff not immigration. It will be when the government is required to pay that any issue will make itself known. This is federal government territory so will be the same across Australia. My advice would be to get an assessment, it’s free. Then if approved you will be required to complete a financial assessment. It will now depend on income as there is a scale of what you pay towards care based on that. You might find that it will be cheaper to pay privately for what you need than what a home care package will cost. At this point you still haven’t committed to anything so can make a decision with more facts to hand. Everyone is expected to contribute something towards their care, so there will be a cost, your income decides how much that is. When I say you I mean the person needing the care! Get an assessment, it’s free. Just thinking if you go onto the my aged care website you might be able to plug in their income and see the costs, think they had that on the website. Good luck. An income problem that I think affects us, is that we don’t have Super, and I don’t know how having income from Super affects your financial assessment? . I think in our case as all our income is from UK, we theoretically have too much income to be eligible for much help? This might affect many others on parent visas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 54 minutes ago, CanberrainOz said: Thank you so much for this Amber, and everyone else that has commented. Much appreciated. You have probably had a look at this already. https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/assessment This is the one that stated you didn't have to be a citizen or a resident and it's not the same as My Aged Care. https://www.cota.org.au/information/aged-care-for-consumers/home-care-today-consumers/frequently-asked-questions/faqs-eligibility-assessment/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 42 minutes ago, ramot said: An income problem that I think affects us, is that we don’t have Super, and I don’t know how having income from Super affects your financial assessment? . I think in our case as all our income is from UK, we theoretically have too much income to be eligible for much help? This might affect many others on parent visas? Absolutely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) 45 minutes ago, ramot said: An income problem that I think affects us, is that we don’t have Super, and I don’t know how having income from Super affects your financial assessment? . I think in our case as all our income is from UK, we theoretically have too much income to be eligible for much help? This might affect many others on parent visas? Super makes no difference. A lot of people think superannuation isn’t counted in the assets test but it is, just like any other investments. So people with too much super aren’t eligible for assistance either Edited March 5, 2022 by Marisawright 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 23 minutes ago, Toots said: You have probably had a look at this already. https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/assessment This is the one that stated you didn't have to be a citizen or a resident and it's not the same as My Aged Care. https://www.cota.org.au/information/aged-care-for-consumers/home-care-today-consumers/frequently-asked-questions/faqs-eligibility-assessment/ They are talking about home care packages which are via my aged care. The acat assesses for those but it is part of the same system. All aged care in Australia is now under federal government so states aren’t receiving any funding for this area now. They are planning a single assessment workforce this year, which will be better. Currently acas or acat assess home care packages and care home eligibility, along with transitional care and short term restorative care and councils assess for the home support program for those lower needs like a bit of cleaning and a shower. Both programs are via my aged care. No way around it unless you pay privately for everything and for some people that works out better. Residency isn’t assessed, it’s the income that will stymie most people. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Amber Snowball said: They are talking about home care packages which are via my aged care. The acat assesses for those but it is part of the same system. All aged care in Australia is now under federal government so states aren’t receiving any funding for this area now. They are planning a single assessment workforce this year, which will be better. Currently acas or acat assess home care packages and care home eligibility, along with transitional care and short term restorative care and councils assess for the home support program for those lower needs like a bit of cleaning and a shower. Both programs are via my aged care. No way around it unless you pay privately for everything and for some people that works out better. Residency isn’t assessed, it’s the income that will stymie most people. I’ve heard it’s advisable to register as early as possible as it can take a while before you are assessed ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Marisawright said: Super makes no difference. A lot of people think superannuation isn’t counted in the assets test but it is, just like any other investments. So people with too much super aren’t eligible for assistance either I think income makes a difference to being eligible for a pensioners health card? We get our scripts at a reduced amount when we reach the PBS Safety Net Scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 1 hour ago, ramot said: I’ve heard it’s advisable to register as early as possible as it can take a while before you are assessed ? Quite possibly as even when I was there the ACAS wait time for assessment could be as long as 8-12weeks or more to being seen the next day after referral, really varied quite wildly. I think in Victoria at least they continued with assessments through covid but probably remotely which is not at all ideal, we picked up so many other things with a face to face. Thing is you need to have needs at the time of assessment otherwise you are ineligible, bit of catch 22. It will be interesting to see what effect the single assessment workforce has on it all. There is a fight for obvious reasons to keep the assessment and approval process away from private companies with a vested interest in providing the actual care. Also to keep the highly skilled ACAS/ACAT assessors who are all nurses, social workers or other allied health professionals, which isn’t cheap but far superior to less skilled or experienced staff doing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 10 hours ago, ramot said: I think income makes a difference to being eligible for a pensioners health card? We get our scripts at a reduced amount when we reach the PBS Safety Net Scheme. Yes, income makes a difference. Maybe I misinterpreted your post, because superannuation isn't an income, it's an asset (money in the bank). You have to convert it into a pension to get an income. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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