Two Victorian councils have come to very different conclusions about the future of their home care services in the face of upcoming reforms to the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), which will transition to Support at Home from 1 July 2027.
Victoria's Wyndham City council's 700 home care clients will have to find a new provider as the council, based in the outer south western suburbs of Melbourne, will stop delivering home care from 31 December 2024.
"Council will change the way it supports its older residents, moving from a direct service model to a model that assists residents to find the service that best suits them amongst the 120 aged care service providers across Wyndham," a statement from the Council said.
“We are committed to assisting these residents and their families or carers understand and navigate these changes,” said Wyndham City Mayor Councillor Jennie Barrera (pictured right).
However, Bayside City Council, which is located on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, has committed to expanding its home care services in its 2024-25 budget.
“A highlight of this budget is the expansion of our Home Care Packages to meet the increasing needs of our ageing community," said Bayside Mayor Councillor Fiona Stitfold (pictured left).
“This reaffirms our commitment to aged care and to ensure our older population remain independent and safe in their homes.”
In February, The SOURCE reported that since 1 July 2021, 80 local Councils have exited, at least in part, the CHSP, the low-care Government-funded program that currently delivers services to more than 800,000 older Australians in the community. Of those Councils to exit, more than half - 46 - were in Victoria.
