Priya, 47, knew her mum needed help months ago. Kamala, 78, has slowed down since her hip surgery — the cooking she once loved now exhausts her, and the garden has gone quiet. But when Priya looked into government help, she hit a wall of jargon: My Aged Care, assessments, classifications. Where does she even start? Can she do it for her mum, or does Kamala have to do it all herself? And what should they say on the day?
Priya's story is an illustrative scenario, created to show how Support at Home works in practice. It is not a real client testimonial.
The assessment is the front door to all government-funded home care in Australia. It's less daunting than it looks — especially when you know the steps. Here's the process, from a family member's point of view.
Step 1: Register with My Aged Care
Everything starts at My Aged Care — online at myagedcare.gov.au or by phone on 1800 200 422. With your mum's consent, you can start the process for her: answer the initial questions, explain what's changed, and request an assessment. Your mum will need to agree to the referral, and it helps to have her Medicare card handy.
Since the reforms of 1 November 2025, there's a Single Assessment System — one pathway that works out what level of support your parent needs, rather than different assessments for different programs.
Step 2: Prepare — and be honest about the bad days
Here's the single most important piece of advice we give families: don't let your parent perform wellness. Many older people greet the assessor freshly dressed, tea made, insisting they're fine — describing their best day, not their typical one. The result can be funding that doesn't match reality.
Before the assessment, jot down together:
- What's become hard or stopped happening — cooking, showering, shopping, driving, the garden
- Any falls, near-misses or health changes, even "minor" ones
- What family and neighbours are currently doing to fill the gaps
- Medications, diagnoses and the GP's details
Step 3: Consent, and being in the room
The assessment is about your mum, so her voice leads — but with her agreement, you can absolutely be there. That matters, because parents often play things down in the moment. A gentle "Mum, tell them about last Tuesday" can make the difference between an accurate picture and a polite fiction. If you can't be there in person, ask about joining by phone. Decisions are made with your parent, never over her head.
One line to remember on the day: the assessor isn't judging whether your mum is coping — they're building the case for the support she's entitled to. Underselling the situation doesn't protect her pride; it just shrinks her funding. Honest answers are an act of care.
Step 4: After approval
Once approved, your mum receives a funding classification — one of eight levels under Support at Home, each with a quarterly budget. Then comes a genuinely important choice: which provider, and how the care will be managed. This is where families weigh up traditional management against self-management — and where a provider like Partner with Care can talk you through both, including how family members get their own login and live view of the budget. Our for families page explains what that looks like day to day.
If needs change later — a fall, a diagnosis, a slow decline — you can go back to My Aged Care (1800 200 422) and request a reassessment. And if you'd like help making sense of an approval letter, give us a call; we do it all the time.