Using a Home Care Package for Cleaning: What's Covered and What's Not

What Does It Include?

When it comes to cleaning, your Home Care Package can cover various cleaning tasks. These are services that help keep your home liveable such as:

• Dusting accessible surfaces.
• Sweeping or vacuuming floors.
• Mopping and drying floors, including wiping up minor spills.
• Wiping down wet areas such as sinks, hand basins, shower alcoves, baths, and toilets.
• Wiping surfaces including stove tops, oven doors, fridge doors and interiors, microwave interiors, bench tops, and kitchen door/cupboard handles.
• Wiping light switches, door handles, and surrounds as required.
• Washing and hanging out personal laundry and general household linen.
• Ironing clothes.
• Assisting with food preparation, washing or drying dishes, and emptying waste paper and light kitchen bins.
• Making beds and/or changing linen.

These services ensure your home remains clean and manageable, helping you maintain a comfortable living environment. 

While Home Care Packages provide valuable support, there are certain tasks that fall outside the scope of the service. Engage professional cleaners for more intensive tasks such as:

• Climbing, overhead reaching, stretching, twisting, or getting down on hands and knees
• Work at heights
• Cleaning stoves
• Heavy lifting or excessive pushing/pulling (e.g., moving furniture, heavy rugs)
• Managing Health and Safety risks (e.g., exposure to harsh chemical cleaners)
• Specialist cleaning agencies (e.g., steam cleaning carpets, window cleaning, spring cleaning)
  

Your package is tailored to your particular needs, and your contribution is means-tested. A basic daily fee is applied, then topped up by the government. 

How Much Does the Government Contribute?

The Australian Government contributes a different amount for each level of Home Care Package. The government subsidy for each package level is as follows:

Level 1: $28.14 daily ($393.96 fortnightly, $10,271.10 annually)

Level 2: $49.49 daily ($692.86 fortnightly, $18,063.85 annually)

Level 3: $107.70 daily ($1,507.80 fortnightly, $39,310.50 annually)

Level 4: $163.27 daily ($2,285.78 fortnightly, $59,593.55 annually)

If you are eligible to pay an income-tested care fee, the government subsidy is reduced by this amount. The government contribution is paid directly to the home care provider you choose. You work in partnership with the provider to determine the care and services you need, within the package budget. The funds won’t affect your pension because they don’t count as income.

A Level 1 Home Care Package provides approximately $10,271 to spend on care and support annually. You are free to utilise home care package funds however you choose on any services or care that will enable you to remain safely at home. Yes, you may use it for cleaning.

Here’s an overview of the approximate hours of support you can receive under different levels of Home Care Packages:

Level 1: Approx. 4 hours per fortnight 

Level 2: Approx. 7 hours per fortnight 

Level 3: Approx. 15 hours per fortnight

Level 4: Approx. 23 hours per fortnight

These figures are based on weekday direct care services and take into account Care Management and Package Management fees.

FOCUS Connect offers comprehensive Domestic Assistance throughout Macarthur and South West Sydney, including Liverpool, Canterbury, Bankstown, Fairfield, Camden, Campbelltown, and surrounding areas, as well as North Sydney suburbs such as Mosman, Cremorne Point, Neutral Bay, Kirribilli, Milsons Point, Lavender Bay, McMahons Point, Waverton, Wollstonecraft, Woolwich, and Greenwich. Our dedicated support workers provide a range of services to meet your needs:



Help at Home: Assisting with housekeeping, grocery shopping, and meal preparation.

Personal Care: Supporting personal hygiene, toileting, showering, dressing, mealtime assistance, and medication administration.

Transport: Driving clients to appointments or on shopping trips.

Social and Wellbeing: Accompanying clients on outings and assisting with Healthy Living for Seniors activities.

Contact FOCUS Connect today to learn how we can support you or your loved ones.