I live on my own with a chronic illness and had reached stage where I cannot look after myself. I tried to find my way through services available to someone in my position. I had been given 6 hours of Commonwealth out of hospital care services but I still had no idea how to progress the care services forward.

After suffering chronic lung condition and subsequent panic attacks, I was admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital to work out where to next. After 6 weeks I was discharged from hospital and placed into a shared room in an aged care facility on respite. This did not work for me at all.

A friend recommended we( professional daughter and myself) have a talk to Whenua Oner from Family Aged Care Advocates.

After talking to us and assessing our needs Whenua looked at what was required and how to put services in place so that I could return home with all the care I need. She assisted us in getting all information to ensure we got the best services that we required.

Whenua has in place regular care plan reviews, communicates effectively with my daughter, my carers and myself. She has also offered to link in with my regular Dr to ensure my care in aligned. Having Whenua supporting me has been a huge relief.

– Audrey

Our first introduction to Aged Care Advocates, Shane and Whenua, came at very opportune time, a few days after one of us returned from hospital with an age-related diagnosis. Our understanding of the government aged-care programme and how to navigate through the details was very limited.

Whenua, with her intimate knowledge of health care, and Shane, with a clear picture of the financial implications for us as self-funded retirees, skilfully and compassionately guided us through the process of applying for Home Care Packages.

In the initial stage they convened a family meeting, (using Zoom) with both of us, our daughter and two sons, to discuss our current situation, our vulnerabilities and health concerns and how we perceived our lives going forward.

Afterward, from the consensus that emerged, Whenua and Shane constructed a “Dignity Plan” outlining in some detail the steps we should take to optimise our future wellbeing and independence. A second family meeting followed, allowing feedback on the Plan and ensuring that everyone was in agreement. Whenua was with us when we applied for HCPs and has continued Even after the granting of the first HCP, Whenua has continued to be helpful and attentive to our needs and concerns, particularly now as we have embarked on a move to downsize to a retirement village.

– Robert and Nerida

We wanted to say thank you so much for helping us get the help and care we need to live better, happier and longer in our own home. Who could possibly work all this out? We couldn’t … and neither could our family. It’s so complicated and there are long delays waiting for something to happen. We could have easily given up if it wasn’t for Family Aged Care Advocates. You have done so much to help us.

It started with you helping us understand Darcy’s home care package assessment.  You contacted My Aged Care with us to find out where things were at and how long it was going to take to get the package funds to pay for care services.  At the same time, you had a look at relevant home care providers and narrowed the field down to two.  You then organised interviews with the 2 shortlisted providers and sat in on the interviews which really helped us choose one.

We could have easily given up … or settled for things we didn’t want or need.  You remained persistent and regularly checked-in to see that we were going ok.  That has been much appreciated by both of us and our family.

– Darcy & Pat

My family has recently engaged their services of Whenua and Shane to help us navigate through the stormy waters of looking into potential home care and residential care for my parents

I didn't actually quite know where to start, but what I did know was that I wanted to make sure that I had my parents involved from the beginning, so that they could make informed decisions about their future and that we actually knew and would know what options were available to us.

I can't recommend these guys enough. If you have a family member or a loved one who may be having to navigate the journey into home care or residential care, I would get in touch with Shane and Whenua because it will put your mind at ease.

Family Aged Care Advocates are experts in their field, and I can't recommend them highly enough. Thanks so much for everything that you've done for my family to date.

– Justine

On behalf of our family Shane, we wanted to write to you to express our sincere thanks and gratitude for everything Family Aged Care Advocates has done for us with our Mum & Dad’s journey into residential aged care.

We initially sought advice and assistance from a financial planner who offered aged care services, amongst other things. For a fee, they basically filled in a form and sent it off to Centrelink and never followed anything up with Centrelink ... or us.

The form was incorrectly filled out and it caused us much grief and lost time. We were referred to you as a specialist in the aged care space to see if you could sort things out for us.

Sort things out you did indeed. This included multiple contacts with Centrelink to sort out our parents aged care fees they were paying and restart their ceased age pensions. You also liaised with the aged care facility on our behalf to ensure the aged care fees charged were corrected and monitored that over time.

Your aged care service has been invaluable to our family. It has proven to us that this is an area that needs complete focus and specialist attention.

– Paul

I wanted to express my thanks and appreciation for what Family Aged Care Advocates has done for my wife and I during her move into residential aged care.

You have done so much for us. You helped negotiate some fee reductions with the facility. You helped complete and submit Centrelink forms and ensure that everything came back correct. As previous self-funded retirees, you were able to apply for, and obtain, a part-pension for both of us.

When we first met, you said the work involved would typically take about 6 months. Not knowing exactly what was involved, I couldn’t see how that would be the case. You were telling the truth – it has pretty much taken all of that time to sort things out and make sure everything is correct and running smoothly.

I couldn’t have done this myself. Your guidance and expertise has been invaluable. You’ve done everything you said you would do in a timely manner and keep me updated and informed along the way.

Your focus has undoubtedly been on us and helping get through an unplanned and difficult time in our lives. This has allowed me to focus on the most important thing I needed to do which was to look after my wife and myself.

I would refer Family Aged Care Advocates to anyone entering the aged care maze. In fact, I have done exactly that already.

– Lance

I’ve been away from Australia for a long time and I didn’t really know where to start to help my parents as they required additional support. Dealing with the government and service providers was quite often a minefield and quite difficult to manage remotely as well.

Shane and Whenua took the time to get to know my family and my mum and dad’s needs and have been an intermediary; like a three-way liaison. It's not only with my mum and dad, but also with government services providers and also the private care providers as well.

Shane and Whenua liaised with the residential care homes, found out details, found out costs, arranged visits, negotiated costs, contracts, looked at all of those sorts of things, supported my dad and mum with advice about where to go next.

The power of negotiating that Family Aged Care Advocates provides has certainly helped me with those professional services.

It's given me real peace of mind. I know it's taken a burden off my father and my mother, and that's just allowed them to concentrate on the emotional and physical journey.

It’s a care agenda before a business agenda. Your service is a godsend. I would highly recommend Family Aged Care Advocates to other people very without reservation.

– Leigh