A carer's guide to respite care

If you are caring for someone, respite care gives you a planned break, an afternoon, a few days, or longer, while the person you care for is well looked after. Using it is not a failure; it is how carers keep going.

The main types

• In-home respite, where a worker comes to you.
• Centre-based day respite, often at a day centre with activities and company.
• Residential respite, a short stay in an aged care home, useful after surgery or when you travel.
• Emergency respite, when something unexpected means you cannot care for someone right now.

How to access subsidised respite

For older Australians, respite is arranged through My Aged Care, which can assess eligibility for subsidised respite, including a set number of subsidised residential respite days a year. For younger people with disability, short-term accommodation and respite can be funded through an NDIS plan.

Use it before you are desperate

Carers often wait until they are exhausted. Booking respite early, while things are steady, makes the break restful rather than a crisis measure, and helps the person you care for get used to it gradually.

Browse respite and day centre options by suburb on Our Mate; each listing shows when we last verified it.