What is available?
The care finders program is a navigation service specifically for vulnerable older people who need intensive support to be connected with the services they need. Information about the national care finders program is available on the My Aged Care website.
Care finders will:
- find older people who are disconnected from the health system
- support older people to navigate the system and interact with My Aged Care
- provide guidance and explain the care assessment process
- connect older people with the aged care services or other relevant community supports they need
- check in with clients to ensure they continue to have their needs met.
Primary Health Tasmania has engaged four organisations to deliver the Australian Government-funded care finders program in Tasmania. The Council on the Ageing (COTA) Tasmania provides services to all eligible Tasmanians, and CatholicCare Tasmania, The Salvation Army Tasmania and Wintringham provide services in particular parts of the state.
Who is eligible?
This service is available to older people who are eligible for aged care services and have one or more reasons for requiring intensive support to:
- interact with My Aged Care (either through the website, contact centre or face-to-face in Services Australia service centres) and access aged care services and/or
- access other relevant supports in the community.
To be eligible for My Aged Care, a person must:
- need help with one or more everyday tasks
- be aged:
- 65 years or older (50 years or older for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people) or
- 50 years or older (45 years or older for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people) on a low income and homeless or at risk of being homeless.
Reasons for requiring intensive support may include:
- isolation or no support person (e.g. carer, family or representative) who they are comfortable to act on their behalf and/or who is willing and able to support them to access aged care services via My Aged Care
- communication barriers, including limited literacy skills
- difficulty processing information to make decisions
- resistance to engage with aged care services for any reason and their safety is at immediate risk or they may end up in a crisis situation within (approximately) the next year
- past experiences that mean they are hesitant to engage with aged care, institutions or government.
Care finder organisations welcome inquiries from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people who identify as LGBTIQ+, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Where is it available?
This service is available statewide.
- COTA Tasmania provides the service across the state, with an interim service provided from mid-February 2023 scaling up to a full service in subsequent months
- The Salvation Army Tasmania provides the service in the greater Hobart area
- Wintringham provides the service in the greater Hobart area
- CatholicCare Tasmania provides the service in the greater Launceston area and north west Tasmania.
Services may be delivered in person, by phone or online, depending on the person’s preference and location.
Please note that not all of Primary Health Tasmania's commissioned services are physically delivered in every local community, but eligible people in the areas indicated have access to some level of service. This could be face to face or through other means such as phone support. Speak to the service provider for more information.
Who can make a referral?
Anyone can contact a care finder organisation regarding services.
How much does it cost?
This service is funded by the Australian Government. There is no cost to people using it.