Home > Your health > Services and support > Disability services > Home and Community Support

Related websites

Work and Income
Work and Income assistance includes access to the Community Services Card.

New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres
A national organisation of Disability Information Advisory Services. Contact them on free phone 0800 NZFDIC (0800 693 342).

Home and Community Support Services

Home and Community Support Services are services funded by the Ministry to help you live at home. They can help with both household management and personal care.

Household management may include help with:

  • meal preparation
  • washing, drying or folding clothes
  • house-cleaning, vacuuming and tidying up.

Personal care may include help with:

  • eating or drinking
  • getting dressed or undressed
  • getting up in the morning or getting ready for bed
  • showering or going to the toilet
  • getting around your home.

Who can get Home and Community Support Services

You can get Home and Community Support Services if you:

  • are under 65 years old
  • meet Disability Support Services’ eligibility requirements
  • have had a needs assessment saying you need home-based support services.

Household management is only available to:

  • people who have a Community Services Card
  • children under the age of 16 whose parents/caregivers have a Community Services Card.

Whether or not you can get a Community Services Card depends on income and family size. Visit the Work and Income website to find out more.

Getting Home and Community Support Services

You’ll need to speak to a Needs Assessment Service Coordination (NASC) organisation. Go to Needs Assessment and Service Coordination to find the contact details for your local NASC. Your doctor or health professional should also be able to refer you.

The NASC will assess what support you need to live an everyday life. They’ll work with you to set goals and determine what kind of home and community support services you will need, paid for by Disability Support Services.

If you need Home and Community Support Services, the NASC will discuss with you whether this support is for household management, personal care, or for both, and how they’ll help you meet your goals.

The NASC will also talk with you about which service providers in your area are able to provide you with a support worker. Where there is more than one provider in your area, you can chose which provider you would like to use.

You can have an advocate, carer or a member of your family/whānau/aiga with you while you are going through this process. For more information on the needs assessment process go to Needs Assessment and Service Coordination services.

Service providers

Service providers are contracted by the Ministry to provide Home and Community Support Services in different areas around the country. In some places, especially in rural areas, there will only be one service provider that you can use.

After you have chosen the service provider you want to use, the NASC will send information about you to them and a person from that service will contact you.

The service provider will prepare an individual plan with you which may include things like:

  • what you can do for yourself and what you need help with
  • any things the support worker needs to know about your culture or the way you like to do things
  • any things that the support worker needs to know about your home, for example, if you have a dog
  • what days or time of day you would prefer to have help. (Please note sometimes it may not be possible for a support worker to come at the exact time of day you would like. You can discuss this with the service provider)
  • What support you absolutely must have, and what support can be flexible.

There will be other things the service provider will discuss with you, and if you have any concerns or questions about the service they should be able to answer them for you.

They should also tell you what to do if you want to make a complaint or if you are worried about the support you are receiving.

Find out more from the Ministry

View the Service specifications for Home and Community Support Service providers.

Downloads

Downloads

Related areas

Page last updated: 21 February 2013