Community outreach
Finding the older people who never make it as far as an enquiry form, and getting them connected to what they're already entitled to.
The system waits for the phone to ring
Almost all of aged care assumes someone makes contact. An adult child rings My Aged Care, an assessment happens, a package is assigned, a provider is chosen. The whole thing starts with somebody putting their hand up.
A large number of older people never do. Not because they don't need anything, but because they don't know the help exists, or can't navigate it in English, or have no family nearby to do it for them, or believe with some conviction that asking for help is the first step towards being moved out of their own house.
Those people don't show up in an enquiry pipeline. They show up years later in an emergency department. Outreach is the work of getting to them first.
What outreach actually is
It's the part of what we do that isn't a billable service. Our staff spend time in the communities we work in rather than waiting to be contacted by them: at community centres, at religious and cultural organisations, at seniors' groups, at local events, and alongside the organisations people already trust.
The point is usually not to sign anybody up. It's to be a recognisable face in a community, so that when something does go wrong there's somebody to ask.
What it looks like in practice
- Information sessions in community languages, explaining what My Aged Care is and what people are entitled to.
- Help getting through the assessment process, for people who would never have started it alone.
- Working with community and religious organisations who know who is struggling long before we would.
- Following up on people other people are worried about, including where the referral did not come from the family.
- Linking people to services that aren't ours, where that's the right answer.
Community care linkage
Most of the people outreach reaches don't need one service. They need three, and two of them aren't aged care: a housing issue, a Centrelink problem, a hospital appointment nobody has arranged transport for, a carer in the family who is themselves close to collapse.
Linkage is the work of joining those up rather than handing someone a list of phone numbers. It routinely means referring people to organisations that aren't us, and that's a normal outcome rather than a lost lead. A person who gets the right help from someone else is a better result than a person who gets the wrong help from us.
Getting people out of their houses
Isolation isn't a side effect of getting older, it's a health problem in its own right, and it tends to arrive by one specific route: the licence goes, or the partner dies, or the knee stops managing the front step, and within a year the world has shrunk to a few rooms.
Getting somebody back out again is slower than it sounds and almost never starts with a care plan. It usually starts with one invitation someone actually accepts. Our group social support and community activities are the destination for a lot of this work, and the two community centres exist for it.
Where we work from
Our community centres are the base for most of this:
- Roxburgh Park Community Centre, 25E/250 Somerton Road, Roxburgh Park VIC 3064, open since 2021.
- Fairfield, 60 Ware Street, Fairfield NSW 2165, an office and community centre together, open since 2024.
Both sit in catchments that are among the most culturally and linguistically diverse in the country, which is not a coincidence. Our about page sets out how the organisation is run and who is accountable for it.
Referring someone you're worried about
You don't have to be a relative, and the person doesn't have to be a client of ours. Neighbours, friends, GPs, pharmacists, community leaders and council staff all raise people with us.
Call 1800 434 002 and say it's an outreach referral rather than a service enquiry, or use the form below. Tell us whether the person knows you're contacting us, because it changes how we approach it. If they haven't agreed, we'll go gently and we won't pretend the referral came from nowhere.
If somebody is in immediate danger, ring 000. Outreach is not an emergency service.
Related
- Group social support — where a lot of outreach leads.
- Companionship — one-to-one visits at home.
- Commonwealth Home Support Programme — entry-level support for people not yet on a package.
- Contact us
Common questions
Do you have to be a client to be part of outreach?
No. That is rather the point of it. A lot of the people outreach reaches are not receiving aged care from anybody and in some cases have never been assessed. There is no obligation to become a client of ours at any stage, and if the right answer for someone is a different provider or a different service altogether, we will say so.
Can I refer someone I am worried about?
Yes, and you do not need to be a relative. Neighbours, friends, GPs, pharmacists, community and religious leaders and council staff all raise people with us. Call 1800 434 002 and say it is an outreach referral rather than an enquiry. If the person has not agreed to being referred, tell us that too, because it changes how we approach them.
What if the person does not want help?
That is common and it is their right. Refusing help is not the same as not needing it, and it is very often about the fear of being moved out of the house rather than about the help itself. We do not push. We stay in contact, we make the offer again later, and quite often the way in is a social invitation rather than a care conversation.
Does outreach cost anything?
No. Outreach itself is not a funded service and we do not charge for it. If it leads to someone taking up care, that care is funded and charged in the ordinary way, through Support at Home, the Commonwealth Home Support Programme or privately, and you will get the costs in writing before anything starts.
Refer someone, or ask about outreach
Tell us where you're up to and we'll be in touch. Prefer to talk? Call 1800 434 002.