Home Care goes to Australian Unity

On Friday, the NSW Government announced Australian Unity as the new operator of the Home Care service of NSW.

The NSW Government announced in 2014 that as changes to the aged care and disability support systems occur, Home Care would be transitioned into the non-government sector. It’s a huge shift given Home Care is one of Australia’s largest home care providers with a 70 per cent market share in NSW for domestic assistance and personal care.

The process has been a source of some concern for the sector with limited knowledge of the EOI and tender process.NCOSS will be looking at how consistency and quality of services will be maintained – particularly for Aboriginal services the effectiveness of which are closely linked to relationships workers have in the community.

Australian Unity has stated it intends to retain the unique identity of the Aboriginal Home Care unit.NCOSS will be talking to its members about the transition as it rolls out to monitor any impacts on people using the services.