Admissions Procedure

ECH staff will consult as much as possible with new residents and their families to ensure a smooth transition to residential care.

Being assessed by the ACAT
Before you can move into residential care, your needs must be assessed and you must be approved for placement by the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). This ACAT assessment will determine whether you require high level or low level care. Contact with the ACAT team can be made directly by you (click here for ACAT finder), a family member or your GP. This is a government funded service and you will not be charged for visits by ACAT members.

Submitting an application
The next step is to complete an ECH application form. You will need to provide a copy of your ACAT assessment at the time of sending in your form. To download all the relevent documents for the ECH Residential Care Application process click here.

Admission Policy
All residential care facilities are funded by the Commonwealth Government and operate under the same legislation. This means that residential care centres must offer places to the people with the highest care needs, not the people who have had their name on the registration list for the longest time. The needs of the applicant must match the bed place on offer.

What happens when a permanent bed is offered?
All applications are considered on a priority basis rather than on the length of time you have spent on the registration list. Also, all applications are accepted in good faith that you want to move into care from the moment of application.

When you are offered a place in residential care, you will have very little time to decide whether or not you will accept the placement, although you will have up to seven days before you need to move into the residential care centre.

You are entitled to decline any offer for care, however you may not be considered to be a priority applicant following the decline of an offer.

Residential Care Service Agreement
A Residential Care Service Agreement will be required to be signed before a prospective resident can take occupancy within a care centre. You are encouraged to discuss the agreement with family or a representative to ensure it is fully understood prior to signing.