Managing your care and support needs
If you've been an icare Lifetime Care participant for a couple of years, you may be able to manage aspects of your care independently.
Managing your own supports
icare Lifetime Care assists people to regain skills and become independent following a serious injury. For some people, this means taking control and managing their own supports. This is Greg’s story.Ways to manage your needs
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Make direct payments
Managing and paying for supports directly from service providers
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Use an agency
Engaging and training your support workers directly and using an agency to pay the workers and manage things like insurances, superannuation and tax
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Employ your support workers
Directly employing your support workers and managing all the responsibilities of being an employer yourself
How it works
Under a self-management agreement, we'll deposit your approved funding each month into a nominated bank account. It’s then up to you to arrange, manage and pay for your supports.
As part of this arrangement, you'll provide us with a report each month accounting for how the money has been spent.
If you’re interested in self-management, talk to your icare lifetime care coordinator. They can explain what options are available, and talk to you about whether self-management is right for your situation.
Who can apply
There are some basic rules about who can and can’t apply for self-management.
To manage your own supports, you need to meet the following criteria:
- You’re a lifetime care (not interim) participant.
- Your care and support needs are sufficiently stable and predictable.
- You’re over 18 years of age.
- You’re not bankrupt.
Other factors that can contribute to your overall suitability for self-management include things like:
- Whether you have a publicly appointed guardian or a financial management order in place
- Whether you are able to manage the tasks involved in self-management
- Whether self-management would place you at an unacceptable risk of abuse, neglect or harm, and whether any significant risks to you can be managed
You may also want to consider having another person manage your supports on your behalf – this is known as a nominee arrangement. Nominee arrangements can be considered in some circumstances. Talk to your coordinator if you are interested in this option.
If you’re eligible, your coordinator will work with you to complete a safeguarding plan for managing your own supports.
A safeguarding plan is designed to make sure you won’t be placed at an unreasonable level of risk in the circumstances and that you have access to the right help you need to manage your supports.
Can I pay my friends or family to provide my care or supports?
No, under a self-management arrangement, you are not permitted to employ or pay your family or friends to provide support to you.
Transitioning to self-management
Some of the tasks and responsibilities of self management can be complicated. If you don’t yet have the skills to manage all aspects of the process, we can help you get there.
We can pay for training and support to help you build the right skills and capabilities.
When you transition to a self-management arrangement, we expect that in most cases, you’ll no longer need the support of a case manager. This is because you have the skills to manage your supports independently. Your coordinator will maintain ongoing contact with you and will help you if any new needs or issues arise.
You may want to continue to meet with your (previous) case manager or an experienced planning facilitator on an annual basis to help you to revise your plan and prepare and cost a new plan for the coming year. We’ll usually support this.