The same carer, on the same days, who already knows how your mum likes her tea.
Most home care agencies send whoever is rostered. We build a small regular team around each client — usually two carers, occasionally three — so nobody has to explain the medication routine or where the spare key is every fortnight.
Who are you looking for care for?
Most people who ring us are ringing about a parent, and the conversation is quite different depending on which it is.
For a parent or relative
Most of our enquiries come from adult children, often after a fall or a hospital stay, and usually while trying to work full time. We will talk you through what is possible and what it costs before you raise it with them.
- We speak to your parent directly, not over them
- The assessment visit is free and commits you to nothing
- You can be on the phone during the visit if you cannot be there
For yourself
Wanting a hand with the heavy cleaning or the driving is not the same as needing looking after, and we will not treat it as though it is. You decide what help you want and what you would rather keep doing yourself.
- Start with as little as two hours a fortnight
- Reduce or stop at any time, no notice period
- The same carer, on the days you choose
How this service runs
Four facts about how this service is run. None of them is a promise about how anyone’s care will turn out — that depends on the person, not on us.
Serving Brisbane’s northside from Albion.
Package management fee. Sector average is 25–30%.
Exit fee, if you ever decide to leave us.
Regular carers per client, so the face stays familiar.
What our carers do
Most people start small and build up as needs change. There is no minimum commitment and no notice period to reduce or stop.
Domestic help
Cleaning, laundry, changing beds, and the jobs that have quietly become too hard — the shower screen, the high windows.
Transport & outings
Medical appointments, the shops, the hairdresser, or just a drive and a coffee somewhere that is not the house.
Showering & dressing
Discreet help with washing, dressing and grooming, by the same carer each time. Dignity is the entire job here.
Medication prompting
Reminders and supervision of a Webster pack. Our carers cannot administer medication — a nurse does that, and we can arrange one.
Meals & shopping
Shopping done with you or for you, and meals cooked in your own kitchen rather than delivered frozen.
Social support
Two hours of someone to talk to, play cards with, or walk around the block with.
Where the money in a Home Care Package actually goes
A package is a pool of government funding. Your provider takes a percentage to manage it, and the rest buys care. Some providers take 35% or more, and several charge an exit fee when you leave.
Our management fee
Deducted from the package, not billed to you. It covers care planning, rostering, carer supervision and your monthly statement.
Sector average
Some providers charge more than 35%. On a Level 3 package, that gap is roughly $5,500 a year — about eighty extra hours of care.
Signs it is time to get some help in
Families usually wait until there has been a fall to call. Ringing before that point means an assessment can be scheduled, rather than arranged urgently afterwards — and you get to choose the carer and the days, rather than take whoever is available.
The house has slipped
Not untidy — actually not being cleaned. Bathroom, bedding, the fridge.
Not eating properly
Weight loss, or the same simple meal every night because cooking has become too much.
Bills and post piling up
Unopened mail is often the first visible sign that something has changed.
Driving has become worrying
New scrapes on the car, or they have quietly stopped going anywhere.
Personal care has slipped
Wearing the same clothes, or showering much less often than they used to.
A fall, even a small one
One fall raises the risk of another — ringing before it happens means the visit can be planned rather than urgent.
Some of our carers
Thirty-one carers, all employed by us — not contractors, not a labour hire pool.
Robyn Ellery
Registered nurse · 24 years
Tanya Mahoney
With us 8 years
Josef Brandt
With us 6 years
Lily Ferraro
With us 5 years
What families ask us first
The things people ask on the phone before they book.
Will it be the same carer every time?
Yes, that is the point of this service. Each client has a small regular team — usually two carers, occasionally three for a seven-day roster — so somebody familiar is always available. When a regular carer is on leave you will be told beforehand who is covering, not surprised at the door.
What does a Home Care Package actually cost me?
The subsidy goes to the provider, who deducts a management fee and spends the rest on your care. Ours is 17% — the sector average is 25 to 30% and some exceed 35%. On a Level 3 package, the gap between 17% and 32% is about $5,500 a year, roughly eighty extra hours of care. There may also be an income-tested contribution set by Services Australia, assessed on your income, not by us.
Do you charge an exit fee?
No. If you leave us you keep the unspent balance in your package and we charge nothing to transfer it. Ask any provider you are considering for their exit fee in writing.
How long is the wait for a package?
The assessment itself usually happens within a few weeks. The wait between approval and the package actually being assigned is commonly six to twelve months, depending on level and priority. Most families bridge it privately at $68 an hour or through CHSP, then switch across when the package arrives.
What if my mum refuses help?
Very common, and it is almost never really about the cleaning. Pushing rarely works. What usually does is starting with something impersonal — heavy cleaning, or driving to appointments — so a carer comes through the door as a help rather than a supervisor. Our assessor will talk with your mum rather than about her, and if the answer is no that day, it is no.
A phone call today can start next week
Care coordinators answer directly — no call centre, no script. If something has just happened, say so; we hold capacity every week for urgent starts.