Home and Community Care (HACC)

Call your local council or community health centre. They will meet you to discuss your needs. This will usually be in your home. You may want a family member, friend, interpreter or advocate with you.

The sort of services you require and how often they are needed will be discussed. There is a process for complaints or grievances should you have any at any time.

A range of services is available
Services are provided by many organisations. You can get support depending on your needs, for example:

Help around the home

Housekeeping - including regular or 'spring' cleaning and laundry
Home maintenance - such as cleaning gutters and spouts
Minor works - such as the installation of grab rails and smoke alarms.

Personal, nursing and health care

Personal care - such as assistance with mobility, showering, grooming, dressing and undressing, toileting, eating, prescribed exercise and monitoring of prescribed medication.
Nursing care and therapy, and information on the management of health problems like diabetes or incontinence.
In some areas, allied health services - such as dietetics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and speech therapy - are available.

Help to get out and about

Assistance with shopping, cooking, paying bills and attending appointments
Delivered meals and group meals at senior citizens' centres or community venues
Friendly visiting and group activities via the telephone.
Day groups sharing the company of others.

A break for everyone

Planned and overnight respite in the home or in the community. This provides a break or an outing for the person who is being cared for and a break for the carer.
Information and referral to other services.

Help for people with complex needs

Additional services to help people with complex needs which cannot be met by mainstream HACC services alone are provided by Linkages programs.

Regular assessments ensure changing needs are met
Assessments are conducted to help people and their families or carers to identify their needs, identify services and to ensure people receive the appropriate mix of services. A care plan is developed, monitored and reviewed to ensure services continue to meet consumer needs and maximise their independence.

Where to get help

Your local council
Your local community health centre
Nursing services.

Things to remember

Help is available.
Help will be provided depending on your needs.
Ask for help when you need it.
Related articles:

Aged care - helping people at home.
Carers - support available.
Disability - support for families.
Falls prevention for older people.
Independent living - aids and equipment.

This page has been sourced from the Better Health Channel and produced in consultation with, and approved by the following sponsor. The sponsor logo links to more information relevant to this article.

Print a fact sheet

To print a fact sheet, open the PDF (Portable Document Format) version of this article. The PDF has been prepared by the Better Health Channel. You will need Adobe Acrobat or a recent-version browser to display the file. You can download Adobe Acrobat from the Adobe website.

Home and Community Care (HACC) fact sheet in PDF format.

Article publication date: 25/05/1999
Last reviewed: 30/07/2004

Quality assurance

This article, like all health articles on the Disability Online, is sourced from Better Health Channel and has passed through a rigorous and exhaustive approval process. It is also regularly updated. For more information see Better Health Channel quality assurance page.

Return to top.

Home and Community Care (HACC)

Related articles:

Print a fact sheet

Quality assurance