Check if they are an approved aged care provider

Not every home care provider is government approved. An approved aged care provider has been assessed against national aged care quality standards, is accountable to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, and is eligible to deliver government funded home care packages and support at home services.

You can verify any provider’s approved status on the My Aged Care website. If a provider is not listed there, ask why. Approved status is not a guarantee of quality, but it is the minimum standard your family should expect from any aged care provider in Melbourne or anywhere in Victoria.

Ask about their workforce

This is the question most families forget to ask, and it is the one that matters most. The quality of your parent’s home care depends entirely on the person who walks through their door. A provider might have a beautiful website, but if they do not have enough aged care professionals to deliver care reliably, your parent will experience missed visits, unfamiliar faces, and inconsistent support.

Ask how many care workers and support workers they employ. Ask what happens when your parent’s regular carer is sick or on leave. Ask about their replacement coverage. Ask whether they use their own staff or rely on subcontractors. A provider with genuine workforce depth can offer continuity of care, reliable scheduling, and better carer matching because they have the people to make it happen.

Workforce size is not about being big for the sake of it. It is about having enough trained, experienced, aged care specific staff to deliver personal care, nursing care at home, domestic assistance, respite care, and dementia support without stretching the team too thin.

Look at continuity and consistency

Your parent does not want a different care worker every week. They want someone who knows their name, their routine, and how they take their tea. Continuity of care is what makes home care feel safe rather than stressful. Ask the provider how they maintain consistent carer assignments and what their staff turnover looks like.

A trusted home care provider will be honest about this. If they cannot guarantee consistency, they probably do not have the workforce to support it.

Understand their fees

Home care fees vary significantly between providers. Some charge a fixed fee for care management. Others charge a percentage of your home care package budget, which means the more funding you receive, the more they take. Ask for a full breakdown. Ask about administration fees, care management fees, and exit fees. Transparency on home care costs is a sign of a provider you can trust.

Do not skip the reviews

Genuine reviews from real families tell you what no website can. Look at Google reviews, My Aged Care feedback, and ask the provider for family references. Pay attention to what people say about reliability, communication, and whether the care actually happened as promised.

How Chris Barnard Health measures up

Chris Barnard Health is an approved aged care provider and registered NDIS provider delivering home care services across Melbourne, regional Victoria, and Tasmania. We have been supporting older Australians and their families since 2010, starting as a specialist nursing agency and growing into one of Melbourne’s most experienced in home care and support at home providers.

Our aged care specific workforce of more than 1,000 professionals is what makes quality elderly care possible day to day. It is what allows us to offer consistent carers, reliable home care visits, fast onboarding, and genuine staff matching for every client.

If your family is comparing home care providers in Melbourne, call 1300 602 469. It is what Melbourne’s leading and largest aged care specific workforce was built for. So your parent gets care that is consistent, safe, and never left to chance.