Support for Over 65s

On this page you will find information and fact sheets on My Aged Care, links to Blind Citizens Australia’s submissions and the BCA policy position regarding support for people over 65 and how it might impact people who are blind or vision impaired. This page will have regular updates and information added as it comes to hand, so please re-visit regularly.

My Aged Care Fact Sheets
How can BCA support you to access My Aged Care?
Royal Commission into Aged Care
Aged Care Legislative Review
BCA position statement on My Aged Care
Further Resources

My Aged Care Fact Sheets

My Aged Care is the federal government support program for people who are over the age of 65. Some of our members have expressed concern and frustration on the accessibility and eligibility of My Aged Care packages and programs.

We have developed some fact sheets to outline information on My Aged Care and its programs, as they relate to blindness and vision impairment.

How can Blind Citizens Australia support you to access My Aged Care?

Our Advocacy Officer can work one-on-one with people who are blind or vision impaired throughout their My Aged Care journey.

We can assist with pre-planning, support people during planning meetings and assessments, and help people to resolve issues of concern with the My Aged Care Contact Centre. This service is available throughout Australia. Due to our national reach, this service is only available by phone or email. For example, we are able to connect to planning meetings via phone or video link. Face-to-face support is not able to be provided.

Royal Commission into Aged Care

In October 2018 the Terms of Reference were released for a Royal Commission into Aged Care called Aged Care Quality and Safety. This can be accessed here:

https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

You can also subscribe to the Royal Commission’s email list to receive updates directly.

In September 2019 Blind Citizens Australia made a submission which can be accessed from our Submissions page.

The Royal Commission on Aged Care Quality and Safety is accepting submissions up until April 2020.

Further information can be accessed via the commission’s website:

https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/submissions/Pages/default.aspx

We can support you to make an individual submission to the Royal Commission.

Aged Care Legislative Review

A robust and responsive aged care system is core to the needs of Australians who are blind or vision impaired. According to Vision 2020 Australia, around 80% of vision loss in Australia is caused by conditions that become more common as people age. This raises a number of implications for Australia’s aging population, with one in every four Australians projected to be 65 years of age or older by the year 2056.

BCA asserts that older Australians who are blind or vision impaired, when provided with the appropriate support, can continue to lead full and active lives and make valuable contributions to their communities. Therefore, we welcome the opportunity to contribute to the review of Aged Care services in Australia and thank the Aged Care Sector Committee for providing us with this opportunity.

Read our Aged Care Legislative Review Submission (Word doc).

Position Statement on My Aged Care

You can read about BCA’s position on My Aged Care here: Position Statement on My Aged Care (Word docx)

Further Resources

Recording of My Aged Care Forum

On Wednesday 11 November 2020, the ACT branch of BCA held an information forum about My Aged Care, with presenter Richard Gray who is a volunteer with the ACT Council on the Ageing. The presentation was an overview of types of My Aged Care programs and information about different levels of packages available. The forum was followed by a short Q&A. Issues discussed included:

The disconnect between the My Aged Care system and funding for access to adaptive technology
The disparity between the NDIS and MAC schemes with regards to needing to make contributions under the MAC system.

Listen to the recording here.