A while back, a friend of mine got a call from his mum in The Entrance. She wanted to know why he hadn’t come up for lunch. He had. The day before. They’d had fish and chips by the water and she’d complained about the pelicans the whole time.
He laughed it off on the phone, then sat in his car for twenty minutes after we hung up. That was the first time either of us said the word dementia out loud.
If you’re reading this, I’m guessing something similar has happened in your family. I’m not a clinician, and I’m definitely not an aged care funding expert (I still need a second read of my own electricity bill). What I can do is share what I found when I went digging, in the order I wish someone had explained it to me.
Why dementia care matters so much on the Central Coast
This is the number that made me sit up. Dementia Australia’s 2026 prevalence estimates put the Central Coast council area at the top of the NSW list: an estimated 8,152 people living with dementia this year, climbing to 13,942 by 2054.
I think that’s partly because it’s a big council area with plenty of retirees. Still, that’s a lot of families.
The other figure that stuck with me comes from the AIHW, which estimates about two-thirds of Australians with dementia live in the community rather than in residential care. So most dementia care happens in lounge rooms in Gorokan and Kincumber, not in facilities. And a lot of it is done by a daughter or a husband who never signed up for the job.
How to get started with My Aged Care
Government-funded aged care starts with My Aged Care. You (or your parent, with you sitting beside them) can apply for an assessment online or by calling 1800 200 422. An assessor will usually visit and work out what level of help is needed.
This part matters because most funded providers can only take on clients who’ve been assessed and approved through My Aged Care. I didn’t realise that at first. I thought you could just ring a provider and book someone in, like a plumber. You can’t, at least not for the subsidised stuff.
Support at Home and CHSP explained
Here’s where it gets confusing, so bear with me.
Support at Home started on 1 November 2025 and replaced the old Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care programs. The Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) is still running separately for now, and the government says it won’t move across to Support at Home until 1 July 2027 at the earliest.
If you’re new to all this, you’ll probably hear both names thrown around, sometimes in the same phone call. As a rough guide, CHSP tends to cover lighter, entry-level help, while Support at Home is for people with more complex or ongoing needs. Your assessment decides which one applies.
What in-home dementia and aged care actually involves
“Care” is one of those words that covers a lot of ground. In practice, it usually means some mix of personal care (showering, dressing and grooming), domestic help like cleaning and laundry, social support to get out of the house and respite so the main carer can have a break.
Some providers also offer allied health and programs such as diversional therapy, which uses music, reminiscence and hands-on activities to keep people engaged. I was sceptical of that one until I read a bit more. It turns out keeping someone interested and connected is a big part of keeping them at home longer.
When my friend’s mum finally had someone coming in twice a week, the biggest change wasn’t the cleaning. It was that someone else was noticing things. Her support worker spotted three cartons of expired milk in the fridge and mentioned it before it turned into a bigger problem. My friend lives in Sydney. He’d never have picked that up on a phone call.
Choosing dementia and aged care services on the Central Coast
Every aged care website on earth uses the word “compassionate”. I’ve started skimming past it the way I skim past “artisan” on a café menu. What I actually look for is whether a provider works locally, whether their staff are trained in dementia specifically and whether they’re a not-for-profit or a business answering to shareholders.
One I looked at more closely is DACS, which provides dementia and aged care services on the Central Coast from its office at Suite C35, Kanwal Medical Complex, 654 Pacific Highway, Kanwal NSW 2259. It’s a not-for-profit operating under Alzheimer’s Queensland, and the Central Coast is one of several regional NSW areas it covers. It also has offices in Goulburn, Tamworth and Batemans Bay, supporting families across the Southern Highlands, New England and Eurobodalla. Handy if you’ve got one parent on the Coast and an aunt down south, which seems to be half the families I know.
Its FAQ says staff are all experienced in working with people living with dementia, even though it supports older people generally. That’s the bit that caught my attention. Plenty of providers do home help. Fewer are built around dementia from the ground up.
The right fit still depends on your suburb, your parent’s needs and honestly, whether you click with the person who answers the phone.
Questions to ask any home care provider
Before you sign anything, I think it’s fair to ask a few blunt questions. Will it be the same support worker each week, or a rotating cast? What dementia training have the staff had? How quickly can services start, and what happens if needs change? What are the fees, and are there any charges for leaving?
If a provider gets vague on any of those, I’d take that as a sign. Good ones don’t seem to mind being asked.
Support for Central Coast carers
The person who gets forgotten in all of this is usually the carer. Respite exists for a reason, and carer support groups can be a lifeline, even if the idea of sitting in a circle talking about your feelings makes you want to hide in the car. (I’d be that guy. I’d go anyway.)
DACS runs a 24/7 Dementia Help Line on 1800 639 331, and Dementia Australia’s National Dementia Helpline is on 1800 100 500. There’s also a Central Coast Dementia Alliance that includes people living with dementia and their carers, if you want to connect with others locally.
If you’ve been through this on the Coast and found something that helped, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. And if I’ve got any of the funding details wrong, please tell me. The rules change often enough that I’d be surprised if I haven’t.
