In-home services for younger residents

Domestic Assistance aims to support your independence by helping with tasks you can not currently do yourself. Community Care Workers provide a range of practical assistance to maintain a clean and healthy home environment.

Our flexible service lets you choose what tasks are a priority at each visit.

Community Care Workers can safely undertake basic tasks to maintain the hygiene of your home:

• Floors
• Laundry
• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Kitchen
• Dusting
• Take bins in and out
• Unescorted shopping and bill paying

We have a legal requirement under the Occupational Health & Safety Act (2004) to ensure our employees work in a safe manner at all times and there may be occasions where a worker cannot use the product you prefer or complete the task you want done. Community Care Workers are not permitted to turn mattresses, clean external windows, change smoke detector batteries or light globes, clean vents, clean ceiling fans or wash and rehang curtains. The Shire may be able to offer alternate help with these tasks.

Community Care Workers are not professional cleaners and are not trained to assist clients with nursing needs.

Personal care services provide help with tasks associated with general personal hygiene that do not require the skills of a trained nurse but can support you to remain living independently in your own home.

Our flexible service lets you choose what tasks are a priority for you at each visit.

Community Care Workers will encourage to you to do as much as you can yourself when providing personal care services and will help you when you cannot perform tasks independently.   Tasks could include:

• Bathing
• Washing your hair
• Toileting
• Grooming
• Shaving
• Brushing your teeth or dentures
• Getting in or out of bed
• Assistance with meal preparation

Services may include demonstrating techniques to help you improve your capacity for self-management and building confidence in the use of equipment or aides such as a bath seat or handheld shower.

Council has a legal requirement under the Occupational Health & Safety Act (2004) to ensure our employees work in a safe manner at all times. Workers have received training and follow set instructions to keep them safe in their day-to-day work.

Community Care Workers are not trained to undertake tasks that require a nurse.

Respite Care services provide support and help to maintain the care relationship between a person and their carer. We provide quality respite so that your carer can take a break. The Community Care Worker can provide a meaningful respite visit and can support you to participate in family, social, recreational, personal or community activities.

Personal care requirements can be provided during respite visits.

Respite includes:

• In-home respite where a Community Care Worker will stay with the client in the home so that the carer can go out to take care of tasks they would otherwise have difficulty doing
• Community access where a Community Care Worker provides one-on-one structured activities outside of the home to give the client a social experience to develop, maintain or support independent living and social interaction and offer respite to the carer

Carer Gateway connects you with an Australia-wide network of service providers. They will talk through what you need and help you to find local services and support to help you. Carers can get a wide range of help from counselling and peer support groups, to respite care, home help and equipment.

Social Support services can be individual, one-on-one support that can help you within the home or out in the community, or can be group based excursions to venues of interest.

Social Support - Individual

Our flexible individual service lets you choose the task that is a priority for you during your individual support and could include:

• Accompanied activities such as paying bills, taking you shopping, etc
• Support with technologies that help you connect with the community
• Visiting services

Social Support -Group

Our Group Social Support service helps to prevent social isolation and lets you meet other people in your local community. Group-based social support utilises the Community Transport Outings & Excursions program and takes you to visit places of interest, such as:

• Shopping complexes, markets and outlets
• Places of historical or cultural significance
• Festivals, celebrations and events
• Scenic trips
• Educational and interactive attractions

To apply for social support group, or for more information, contact the Community Transport team directly on 5950 1605.

The Home Maintenance service provides a range of practical help with property maintenance to help you to increase or maintain your levels of independence, safety, accessibility and well-being in your home by minimizing environmental health and safety hazards. We also work with qualified Occupational Therapists (OT) where required to determine your need for home modifications. 

Tasks in and around your home can include:

** This is not an exhaustive list of services available, please contact Aged & Disability Services if there are other things you require

This program does not provide services that are the responsibility of other parties: e.g. private rental landlords, or where damage to a property is covered by insurance.

Home Maintenance fees are determined on cost of materials used, any waste disposal fees and how long it takes to complete the task.

Good nutrition plays a key part in overall health and wellbeing. The Shire aims to reduce saturated fats, sugar and salt and to restrict the carbohydrate portion size in all meals, making each meal suitable for people with diabetes. However, you should consult a dietitian or doctor if you are concerned.

Learn more about our Meals on Wheels program.

Remaining socially connected and physically active is important to maintaining your quality of life.

Community Transport provides services to support the health and wellbeing of residents, targeting people most in need of transport and social support. Dial A Bus helps you to access key services and facilities in your local community, while Outings and Excursions provides monthly outings to places and events of interest.

For more information on the Community Transport program.

Transport options are not available for residents with an approved NDIS package.