Choosing a home care provider can be challenging.
There are hundreds of options across Australia, and even after narrowing your choices, it can be difficult to decide which provider is right for you.
Since 2017, The CareSide has delivered millions of hours of support to older Australians.
Many people entrust us with their care, but over the years, others have opted for alternatives. Here are five reasons home care recipients don’t choose The CareSide as their home care provider—and what we’re doing to address those gaps.
Reason #1: No Local Office
Often, home care recipients want their provider to be nearby and accessible. They feel comforted knowing they can speak with someone in person if an issue arises.
While we have offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, and satellite offices in numerous other cities, we don’t have a physical office in every community where we provide care.
For many care recipients, the most important factor isn’t how close their provider’s office is—it’s whether they can reliably receive the services they need without unexpected delays or shift cancellations.
That’s why we invest heavily in our training and recruitment teams: it enables us to maintain a full staff of highly qualified caregivers, even in areas where we have no physical office. This investment equips our team to deliver consistent, effective support to Australians from all walks of life, including those who’ve settled in the country’s most remote areas.
Beyond having that trusted local presence, The CareSide clients also receive direct lines of contact to their personal Care Managers, with frequent check-ins to ensure they have everything they need.
Though we may not always have an office down the street, we strive to offer the personalised support of a local, family-owned provider with the resources and stability of a nationwide organisation.
Reason #2: Pricing and Fees
Home care recipients deserve to know exactly how much their services cost and how their government funding is being used.
At The CareSide, we prioritise pricing transparency—but that doesn’t mean our fee structures always make sense to everyone. Some people choose other home care providers because they find our fee structures confusing. Here are two common concerns we hear:
Our 10% Care Management Fee
Some people feel our 10% care management fee is too high. However, the government requires a 10% care management fee from each person’s care package every quarter, so our pricing meets that requirement. This is standard across the home care industry.
Fees are also only part of the equation. Providers still determine their own service rates, and those can vary significantly. Higher hourly rates can reduce the number of hours of care you receive within your available funding. We’ve always maintained competitive service rates to ensure our clients get more hours of care through their funding.
Fully Managed vs. Self-Managed Fees
Some people are unsure about the pricing difference between our fully managed and self-managed options. Let’s break it down:
- Self-managed care works differently. Rather than paying our standard fully managed service rates, clients negotiate directly with their support workers. The CareSide then charges a separate 10% invoicing and compliance fee on each invoice. For example, if the rate you agreed to with your support worker is $50 per hour, the total charged for two hours of work is $110. $100 of that goes directly to your support worker, and $10 is charged by The CareSide for invoicing and compliance management.
- Our fully-managed clients are not charged invoicing fees — just the hourly rate for the service. These rates can be found on our website’s pricing page. Our fully-managed service rates are among the lowest you’ll find across hundreds of providers nationwide. For instance, with The CareSide, independence and everyday living services (such as personal care, transportation, and domestic assistance) cost $88 per hour on weekdays. Most other providers charge $100+ per hour for similar services.
Reason #3: Two-Hour Service Minimum
Each care visit from The CareSide has a minimum duration of two hours.
Our two-hour service minimum has been especially puzzling for people receiving early-stage care and care recipients who only need help with quick tasks. They ask: ‘Why can’t my visits be shorter?’
There are two important reasons:
- Supporting our caregivers — We do everything we can to care for the people who care for you, and their industry awards require them to have a minimum shift length of two hours. We aim to recruit and retain the best caregivers in aged care, and our ability to promise longer care windows helps us continually meet that goal.
- Creating meaningful relationships — Effective home care isn’t just about checking off tasks; it’s about building connections while providing comprehensive support. Care can serve different purposes from one visit to the next. During the two-hour window, our caregivers can assist with anything you need, from house cleaning and personal care to transportation, meal preparation, laundry, and more.
While some individuals prefer shorter visits, we’ve found that longer shifts allow our support workers to establish rapport with our clients and make a genuine impact on their daily lives. It’s often a better outcome for both our clients and our caregivers.
Reason #4: Support Worker Preferences
Inviting someone into your home requires trust and vulnerability. It’s totally reasonable for home care recipients to want support workers they feel comfortable around.
That’s why The CareSide directly employs and trains all of our caregivers: We do not outsource or subcontract through other agencies, so our clients never encounter strangers on their doorsteps. They get the same caregivers every visit, precisely at the times they choose, because continuity is essential to effective home care.
Even so, some people understandably want maximum control over their care team. Here are two common concerns and what we’re doing to address them:
‘I want to choose my own caregivers.’
We always strive to pair care recipients with the ideal caregiver(s) for their needs.
Under our fully managed service, we work to match each client with support workers who suit their needs, preferences, and personality. Every week, our home care specialists meet with our scheduling, recruitment, and care management teams to discuss client needs and ensure we have the best caregivers for every home care recipient.
For those who want complete control over the process, we also offer self-managed care. Our self-managed clients have the option to handpick and manage their own support workers, while we handle invoicing and compliance requirements.
Some people enjoy having full control over selecting and managing their support workers. Others prefer having their provider handle recruitment, scheduling, and ongoing support. The CareSide offers both options, empowering our clients to choose the approach best for them.
‘I want my caregiver to speak a specific language.’
Language and cultural compatibility are important considerations, especially for families selecting a home care provider on behalf of their ageing parents.
Although The CareSide can’t always guarantee a perfect language match, we certainly try to make that happen. We have successfully recruited support workers across the country who speak a wide range of languages and who understand different cultural backgrounds.
If the perfect caregiver for you isn’t on our current roster, we have a full-time recruitment team dedicated to finding and enlisting talented caregivers to match your specific requirements—including language and culture-based needs.
Reason #5: Changing Providers Feels Risky or Is Too Much Work
Care recipients can be reluctant to change providers—even when they know their current home care situation isn’t ideal. The process of transferring services isn’t difficult, but the decision itself can feel overwhelming.
Many people worry that the process will be complicated, that their funding could be frozen, or that the quality of their care could decline further during the transition. Others simply feel switching providers requires more time and energy than they have available.
If you’re considering a switch, we encourage you to ask yourself:
Knowing what I know now, would I choose my current provider again?
If the answer is ‘No,’ or if you’re unsure, then it might be time to make a change. The process of switching providers can feel daunting, but it’s often simpler than you expect. Ultimately, you deserve support that’s reliable and effective. If you’ve found yourself repeatedly frustrated, disappointed, or settling for care that’s merely “good enough,” it may be time to explore other options.
Our guide, Changing Providers: How to Know When It’s Time to Transfer Care, has more information on this topic, including common misconceptions that prevent people from switching.
Helpful Resources
The CareSide won’t be the perfect fit for everyone, and that’s okay. Some people prefer a provider with a local office in their community. Others want shorter visits, a different pricing structure, or something else we don’t offer.
The most important thing is finding a home care provider that aligns with your needs and goals.
If you’d like to learn more about how The CareSide works, our team is always happy to answer your questions and help you decide if we’re the right fit for you.
