Understanding the true cost of your home care matters. With transparent fees and the freedom to choose your service providers and negotiate rates, we ensure your funding delivers more care hours – it's that simple.
Care Management Fee - 10%
Under Support at Home, the government keeps 10% of each participant’s care funding for Care Management. This amount pays the provider’s Care Managers for the time they bill when planning, checking, and adjusting care to meet each person’s needs and follow government rules. If not all of the 10% is billed and it isn’t used to support other participants’ care management, the government keeps what’s left.
The 10% also works a bit like insurance – care management is a mandatory government defined service, and everyone must receive it. Some people will need more support than others, and when that happens, the provider must still deliver the care management required, even if the time spent goes beyond what can be paid for.
Self Management Administration Fee
Because we don’t employ care staff or earn a margin from care services we add a 10% Administration Fee to each service provider invoice. This covers the costs associated with being a Registered Provider – things like quality, compliance, governance, payment processing and support. None of this can be covered by Care Management billing and is what keeps Local Guardians running behind the scenes.
Important: You only pay this fee when you receive services. If you’re not using your funding in a particular period, there are no fees charged.
The good news? Choosing your own third party service providers means you can still save money. Here’s how:
As an example, a traditional ‘full service’ provider (who has their own care workforce) might charge $90/hour for a support worker. With us, you can engage a support worker of your choice for $50/hour + our admin fee ($5), totaling $55/hour. That’s $35 less per hour – resulting in significantly more care hours from the same budget.
Interested to chat more about your situation, and find out how we can help you get more care?
Real Reviews From People Just Like You
Our family is so grateful for Robyn's support - she's helped us understand a variety of options available to Mum, which has helped her recover and start enjoying life again, and Mum loves her check-in calls with Robyn who clearly is in a role she enjoys and brings her best to. Thank you Robyn and Local Guardians 🙌
I have nothing but praise and gratitude for Jaye, mom's care manager. Right from the start Jaye has been so helpful, always professional, and most of all highly empathetic. I look forward to her monthly call as not only is she a support to mum, but she's very supportive to me too. I look forward to Jaye's input and care in the years ahead.
We've had such a great experience with Local Guardians, soooo much better than with a traditional provider. Previously, most of mum's budget was going on fees with minimal services. By self-managing, we have more control over every element of her care for significantly less cost, meaning access to more services for her. Plus, the communication and support from Jaye, our Care Advisor, has been far better then with previous "full service" providers. Yes, there's a bit of extra work to get set up but once you're done, you're set. It's been the absolute best option for us and I highly recommend.
Jaye has been fantastic in helping us and answering our questions. We always recommend Local Guardians to friends and family! The flexibility allows my Oma to control her choices.
I had a wonderful experience working with Robyn and the entire team at Local Guardians. From the very beginning, they have been incredibly supportive and attentive to my father's needs. Robyn’s dedication and professionalism made a significant difference in navigating the complexities of care services. Their responsiveness and commitment to providing quality care truly exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend Local Guardians to anyone seeking compassionate and effective support. Thank you for making this journey so much smoother for my father!