In home support services

A basic home care service can be provided to you to support you to remain living in your own home. This includes a range of services to help you maintain independence with household cleaning tasks and are planned according to your individual need. The focus of cleaning tasks will be limited to areas within your home that are most frequently used.

A Flexible Care Plan enables you to direct which tasks are completed during each home care service. Preference for a morning or afternoon services and preferred days will be considered when rostering service times.

A list of approved cleaning products and equipment is contained within our Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) Client Information Booklet 2023 (PDF, 3MB).

Our Access and Support Officer can support you to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). For more information about NDIS, please visit the NDIS website.

Contact the Access and Support Officer on 5471 1735 to discuss your specific concerns and needs.

Respite aims to be as flexible as possible and can occur in a number of locations. It may be provided in the home to enable the carer the opportunity to go out, or can be provided as an outing in the local area for the care recipient.

It aims to support the caring role by providing carers’ with a break from their responsibilities.

This service is provided in partnership with Castlemaine Health Podiatry. Following an assessment by a podiatrist, a basic in home toe nail care service may be provided as recommended by the podiatrist.

Our foot care program has an upfront cost of $43.60 for the supply of podiatry kit.

Services can include assistance with shopping or paying bills. You may choose to attend with one of our direct care workers (accompanied activity), or you may prefer to provide our direct care worker with a shopping list and have them attend to this for you (Home Care Shopping).

We may also be able to provide you with assistance to attend appointments, such as medical appointments in the local area.

Nutritious balanced chilled meals can be delivered to eligible people. Diabetic, vitamised and minced meals can be catered for and meals must be heated according to the instructions provided before being eaten. Allergies, dietary or cultural requirements can be accommodated.

Chilled meals will be delivered on a Tuesday and/or Friday morning from 9.15am.

Any cancellations need to be received by 12.00 noon on Monday or Thursday, or you may be charged for the meal/s.

Just a reminder that we are unable to leave your meal/s if you are not at home.

Assistance by a direct care worker to heat your meals can be provided if you are unable to do this independently.

Assistance can be provided to help you maintain your hygiene and grooming including:

An individualised falls prevention home exercise program can be provided to you in partnership with Castlemaine Health and Castlemaine District Community Health. This is designed to support people who are at high risk of falls or house bound.

The Home Safety Program provides minor home repairs (Property Maintenance) and Home Modifications services which focus on client safety and maintaining your independence at home.

The program provides services that do not require the skills of a qualified tradesperson such as a licensed electrician or plumber.

Please note: services are charged at 1 hour of service for each Contractor attending to provide your Home Safety services. i.e. if two contractors attend for one hour, you will be charged for two hours of service, plus any material costs or expenses.

Services can include:

Mount Alexander Shire Council offers CHSP and HACC-PYP eligible clients a diverse, interesting and enjoyable social support program.

Social support helps you to maintain or develop social networks. These may include volunteer visiting which offers you a limited visiting service for clients whose physical or geographical situation has created a barrier to their community involvement.

The Social Support Program is designed to support our older and younger residents who need assistance with getting out, socialising, making friends and learning new skills. Groups are facilitated by qualified and experienced staff and volunteers. We provide a range of fun and friendly programs to cater for different needs and interests including home visits, special interest groups, computer group, community lunches, outings and gentle warm water exercises. All programs are low cost, with transport available across the Shire for a small fee.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team have been supporting residents remotely through a fortnightly social support newsletter and friendly phone calls. If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter or receive a regular phone call for a chat, please contact the Healthy Ageing Officer on 5471 1807.

For more information about our Social Social Program read our social support brochure (PDF, 4MB). If this sounds of interest to you, or you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact the Healthy Ageing Officer on 5471 1807.

You can also find more information on social support services and activities at the Victorian Government's Social Support Hub at www.seniorsonline.vic.gov.au.

Council is brokered by a range of other agencies to provide services to some residents. Agencies that purchase Council services include Veterans Affairs, Home Care Package providers and Castlemaine Health's Post Acute Care (PAC) program.

Veterans Home Care
Domestic assistance, personal care, in-home respite care, and home & garden maintenance services are also available for Gold and White Card Holders as assessed and as per program guidelines.

Additional information can be accessed via the Veterans Home Care Coordinator on 1300 550 450.

Home Care Packages
Domestic assistance, personal care, in-home respite care, and home & garden maintenance services may be purchased for you by your Home Care Package provider. If you have been allocated a Home Care Package and wish to use your package to purchase our services, please discuss with your provider.

Castlemaine Health Post Acute Care (PAC)
Short-term Post Acute Care support may be organised for you when you are discharged from hospital. This may include personal care, home care or shopping support. Post Acute Care program support is available to patients of public hospitals. if you are eligible for this program. it will be discussed with you prior to your discharge from hospital.

If you are looking for things to do and how to stay healthy and active, please visit our Healthy Active Living page.

Our Healthy Active Living page includes information such as:

Healthy Active Living Guide (PDF, 3MB)
Community Lunches

A healthy low cost lunch is provided in the following locations:

Castlemaine Town Hall, Tuesday, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Maldon Community Centre, Wednesday, 12.00 noon – 1.00pm

Lunches are not available on public holidays, during the school holiday period and while COVID-19 restrictions are in place.