Sandwich generation caregiving from another city or state can include arranging services, comparing aged care providers, organising appointments and helping with paperwork. Start by talking with your parent about what they want help with and who they would like involved. Together, you can work out what you can organise remotely, who can help with tasks that need someone nearby and where aged care services could fit into the arrangements.
Key Takeaways
- Agree on your role: Ask your parent what they would like you to organise and what information they are comfortable sharing.
- Set up ongoing communication: Registering as a supporter can help you access aged care information and communicate your parent’s decisions, but it does not give you decision-making authority.
- Arrange an assessment: With your parent’s permission, you can help them apply for an aged care assessment online or over the phone.
- Check local arrangements: Work out who can help with tasks that need someone nearby and what happens when they are unavailable.
- Compare providers remotely: Aged Care Decisions can check availability and help you compare aged care providers across Australia.
Many people arranging care from another city or state are part of the sandwich generation, supporting a parent in one place while raising children and working in another. Our Sandwich Generation Support guide covers that wider picture; this article focuses on what you can set up from a distance, starting with the conversation itself.
Sandwich Generation Caregiving: Start With Your Parent’s Preferences
Start by asking your parent what they would like help with, and what they would prefer to keep doing themselves.
They might want transport to appointments but prefer to manage their own shopping. They may ask you to research providers and talk through the options together or to make calls and keep appointment details in one place.
Be honest about what you can manage. If everyone knows when you are available to make calls, arrange bookings or visit, it is easier to plan without creating unrealistic expectations.
Together, talk through:
- Which tasks your parent wants help with
- What you will organise from a distance
- Who can help in person
- What information can be shared and with whom
- How you will keep each other updated
None of this has to be set in stone. You can revisit the arrangement as your parent’s needs change or people’s availability shifts. If you live interstate, a face-to-face visit — such as over Christmas or another family gathering — can be a good opportunity to review what is working and discuss any changes in support.
Set Up Access to Information
With your parent’s permission, you can help them complete a My Aged Care application or join the conversation while they apply. You do not need to be a registered supporter just to help with the application.
For ongoing involvement, your parent can choose to register you as their supporter. A registered supporter helps an older person access information, understand their options and communicate their own decisions to My Aged Care, assessors and providers.
Being a registered supporter does not automatically give you authority to make decisions for your parent. That requires separate legal authority that applies to the decision being made.
Your parent can ask to register a supporter by calling My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, using their online account or completing a registration form.
Providers may also ask for consent or supporting documents before they share information with you. When services begin, agree on who can receive updates and how those updates should be provided.
Help Arrange an Assessment
If your parent needs help at home and has not used government-funded aged care before, the first step is usually an assessment through My Aged Care. With your parent’s permission, you can help them apply online or over the phone.
The assessment considers what support your parent needs and which services they may be eligible for. It is free and usually happens in their home, although another arrangement may be possible depending on their circumstances.
Your parent can have a family member, friend, carer or registered supporter with them. If you cannot be there in person, ask the assessment organisation whether you can join by phone or video when the appointment is booked.
Before the assessment, you can help your parent gather:
- Examples of tasks they need help with
- Details of services and family help they currently receive
- Relevant medical information
- Contact details for their health professionals
- Questions about the support they want
Be clear about any help the family is already providing. If someone is delivering meals for a few weeks or taking leave to attend appointments, explain that this is temporary rather than an ongoing arrangement.
Depending on the outcome, your parent may be eligible for entry-level support through the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), Support at Home or other aged care services.
Compare Aged Care Providers from a Distance
You do not have to wait until every part of the assessment and funding process is complete before researching providers. You can start looking at options while the details are being finalised.
Find out which providers work in your parent’s area, what services they offer, how much they charge and whether they currently have availability. Your parent can then weigh up those options alongside their assessment outcome and approved services.
For Support at Home, approval and the allocation of funding happen separately. Once your parent receives their funding allocation letter, they have 56 days from the date of the letter to enter a service agreement and start services. If they need longer, they can ask My Aged Care for another 28 days.
When you speak with providers, ask about:
For a practical comparison framework, see the questions to ask home care providers before you begin calling providers.
- Whether they deliver the required services in your parent’s suburb
- Current availability and possible start dates
- Support at Home service prices and any other applicable charges
- How visits are scheduled
- What happens if a worker is unavailable
- Who your parent can contact about changes
- How authorised family members can receive updates
Many providers can also arrange virtual meetings, which can make it easier to compare options and stay involved if you live in another city or state
You do not have to manage all of this on your own. Aged Care Decisions can do the legwork for free. Tell us what your parent needs, where they live and what matters to them. We will check which providers in their preferred area have availability and prepare a personalised options report for you to discuss together.
You can contact us for a free options report whether you are looking for care near your parent’s current home or exploring options closer to you.
Arrange Help Near Your Parent
Some things simply need a person nearby. That could be a relative, friend, neighbour or paid service.
Ask your parent who they would feel comfortable involving, then have an honest conversation about what each person can do. Someone may be happy to keep a spare key but unable to attend appointments. Someone else may be able to visit regularly but not respond at short notice.
It helps to agree on specific jobs, such as:
- Providing transport to an appointment
- Visiting on an agreed day
- Holding a spare key with your parent’s permission
- Collecting shopping or prescriptions
- Being an agreed local contact
- Helping a provider access the home when needed
For anything essential, make sure there is a back-up plan. If no one nearby can provide a particular kind of help, look at service options rather than leaving the gap unresolved.
The Support at Home service list can also help you identify which practical tasks may be suitable for formal services rather than relying on family.
If several family members are involved, the Family Care Responsibilities Planner in our Sandwich Generation Support guide is a simple way to record who has agreed to do what.
Agree on Provider Updates
When you live some distance away, it is reassuring to know who to contact and what updates you can expect.
With your parent’s agreement, ask their aged care provider to record who can receive information and how it should be shared. That could be an email after a care planning discussion, a phone call if a visit is missed or access to a family communication portal.
Ask the provider:
- What happens if your parent does not answer the door
- Who is contacted if a scheduled service cannot go ahead
- Whether regular updates are available and whether there is a charge
- Who handles requests to change services
- How your parent can arrange for you to receive relevant statements and records
Support at Home providers send monthly statements showing services and budget information. If your parent wants you involved, ask what they need to do so you can receive a copy.
Check these arrangements with each service. Meal delivery, transport and personal alarm providers may all have different ways of contacting family.
Make Visits Work for You Both
Your visits do not have to become a long list of appointments and errands. Practical tasks can sit alongside simply spending time together.
If your travel dates are flexible, you might time a visit around an appointment, provider meeting or residential care tour your parent wants you to attend. If that is not possible, find out what can happen by phone and whether someone local can go with them.
While you are there, you could offer to:
- Go through paperwork together
- Help prepare for a health appointment
- Meet a care worker or local contact
- Discuss whether current services are working
- Update contact details and agreed arrangements
If you notice changes in the home or in your parent’s usual routine, talk about what you have observed without jumping to conclusions. There may be a simple explanation, something they would like help with or an issue worth discussing with their health professional.
Check Work Arrangements Before Travelling
Workplace flexibility varies. Carer’s leave may be available when a parent needs care or support because of illness, injury or an unexpected emergency. It will not necessarily cover every visit, provider tour or planned appointment.
If you are planning an interstate trip, check which leave or flexible work arrangements may apply before you book. Your options will depend on your employment conditions and why you need the time away.
Some eligible carers also have a legal right to request flexible working arrangements after at least 12 months with the same employer. Different conditions apply to casual employees, and having the right to ask does not mean a particular arrangement must be approved.
Keep a Shared Contact Plan
A shared contact plan gives everyone a clear starting point if your parent needs help and you cannot get there.
Put it together with your parent, then share the relevant details with the people they want involved. Include:
- Your parent’s preferred emergency contacts
- Who has agreed to hold a key
- Provider names and contact details
- Their general practitioner’s (GP’s) contact details
- Where an up-to-date medication list is kept
- Who can help if the usual person is unavailable
- Where authorised people can find relevant legal and care documents
Make sure everyone named in the plan knows what they have agreed to do. Update it whenever a provider changes, someone moves, or a contact is no longer available.
You do not need to start with a blank page. The Aged Care Emergency Information Pack, available from our Sandwich Generation Support hub, provides a ready-made template.
If your parent wants to put legal arrangements in place, seek advice about the documents that apply where they live. Powers of attorney, advance care directives and other appointments serve different purposes, and the rules vary between states and territories.
Review Care When Things Change
When your parent’s needs change, start by talking with them and their provider about what is no longer working.
Perhaps transport once a fortnight no longer covers all their appointments. They may now prefer daily help with meals instead of a weekly shopping visit. Or a relative’s availability may have changed, leaving a gap that needs another solution.
A change in needs or circumstances may mean your parent needs a Support Plan Review or reassessment. They can call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, and their provider can also help arrange a review.
The next step will depend on what your parent needs and wants. It may involve changing services at home, moving closer to family or considering residential aged care.
If a move is on the table, speak with My Aged Care and the current provider before making arrangements. Ask what details need to be updated, whether a review is required and how services will be set up at the new address. Always confirm availability rather than assuming a new provider can begin straight away.
Find Care Near Your Parent, Wherever You Live
Whether your parent wants Support at Home or is considering residential aged care, you can start exploring options from wherever you live.
Aged Care Decisions checks provider availability and prepares a personalised options report, giving you and your parent a practical starting point for the next conversation.
