Our Story - Home Caring Franchise | NDIS Provider Franchise
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Our Story

HOW HOMECARING BEGAN

HomeCaring began in 2015 with a vision: to provide Australians with the high quality care they deserve, and to partner with like-minded individuals who share this passion.

elder care franchise

Our founder, Jon Kontopos, has over a decade of aged care experience in Australia. With a clear vision to be the leader in the aged care and disability care industry, Jon decided to roll out a franchise model like no other, offering aspiring entrepreneurs an opportunity to launch their own business through an innovative joint venture partnership model.
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Jon reduced the barrier to entry, making it possible for franchisees to be a part of a rewarding venture through a low entry cost, 50/50 partnership model. This means that when a prospective franchisee joins the HomeCaring family, they share the initial investment costs and the profit with HomeCaring on an ongoing basis, as well as earning a generous salary.

To support the growth of the business and help more people own an aged care and disability, HomeCaring Franchise expanded its support functions by adding to the management team a Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Franchise Operations Manager, Human Resource Manager, Compliance Manager, Customer Service Manager and Franchise Finance Manager.

Jon is also joined by a team of experts across all aspects of the care industry, including NDIS, aged care packages, dementia care, in-home care, residential facilities, group homes, SDA (disability accommodation), mobility care and retirement villages.

Through innovation and passion, we have a successful track record in growing our home care businesses, so we can confidently say, our business model works!

franchise home care

Our philosophy is to genuinely care about our partners success and to support their growth. And from our track record, we can confidently say, our business model works!

Jon Kontopos
HomeCaring CEO

OUR GROWTH

HomeCaring is passionate about providing the very best care to people in the community, and we are growing – in every way.

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the HomeCaring business experienced rapid growth due to the need for extra services in 2020, most of which are subsidised by the Government. Throughout that year, the number of hours of service we provided to our clients across the franchise network increased by 250%.

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Our locations reach all across Australia, spanning metropolitan cities, suburbs, regional centres and retirement hubs in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. And our diversity is growing: as one of the few multicultural businesses in the market, we provide home care to over 15 linguistically diverse communities that call Australia home.

Our goal is to open a home care services franchise in over 200 locations across Australia. We are well on track to making this a reality.

 

As an AFR Fast Starter company,
HomeCaring has tripled its growth in hours of service provided from March 2020 to February 2021,
despite the impact of a global pandemic.

we provide home care to over
15 linguistically diverse communities
that call Australia home.

HOMECARING TIMELINE

  • 2018
    • Franchise model tested in a pilot location
    • First franchise opened
  • 2019
    • 11 Franchise locations established
  • 2020
    • 13 franchise locations established
    • Ranked 11th amongst the Australian Financial Review Fast Starter Top 100 companies
    • Finalist in FCA Awards - Emerging Franchisor of the Year
  • 2021
    • Ranked 6th in Australia in the Financial Times’ 2021 High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific Ranking
    • Ranked 32nd fastest growing company in Asia in the same awards, competing against tens and thousands of other companies in the region
    • Set target of 21 new partnership franchisees
  • 2023
    • Our network has grown to over 70 Franchise Locations Nationally With expansion to all major capital cities and many key regional centres

Home Caring winner of FCA award 2021

The FCA Award’s Emerging Franchisor category recognises excellence in practice by an emerging business that has been franchising its brand for two to five years. Home Caring was awarded first place in 2021, an achievement which acknowledges our success in a high-growth industry.

Home Caring achieved the top score in the FCA awards based on five franchisee categories: planning and strategy, leadership support and satisfaction, business performance, financial performance and good citizenship.

MARKET OVERVIEW

The Government’s investment in home care, coupled with an ageing population, offers plenty of growth potential in the home care market. The two main streams of funding we access are through the NDIS and Home Care Packages.

∆ National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is a way of providing people with a disability care and services that help them to achieve their goals and participate in the community. Each participant in the scheme develops a plan with a Local Area Coordinator that is derived from goals they would like to achieve. The plan is then developed into an individual budget which is set out in the following areas:

Core – Daily activities, social, community & civic participation, consumables, transport. The Core supports budget is not prescriptive and can be used flexibly based on the participants wants and needs.

Capital – Assistive technology, home modifications. This funding is not flexible and must be used as agreed in a participant planning meeting.

Capacity Building – Daily activity, choice and control, employment, social community and civic participation, health and wellbeing, home living, lifelong learning, relationships and support coordination. This funding can be used flexibly as aligned to a participant’s goals.

To provide services under the NDIS, you must be registered as an approved provider and undergo “Third Party Verification” successfully. Circumstances where you may provide services when not registered include if the participant has another organisation managing their plan, or they are managing their own plan.

If the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) is managing the participants plan, the provider must be registered to start services. The NDIA sets out the price guide that registered providers must follow if providing services to an NDIA managed participant. The price guide is updated annually.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has delivered significant benefits to participants:

  1. NDIS 31 March 2024 Quarterly Report data snapshot
    1. At 31 March 2024 was 649,623 participants were receiving NDIS support
    2. 432,087 active participants have not previously received disability support via State and Commonwealth government programs in the past
    3. Recently released 24 /25 Budget provides extra funding for another 24,000 participants
    4. NDIS scheme projects to support over 1M participants by 2033
  2. The Scheme is benefitting participants formerly in residential aged care:
    1. Residents under 65 have reduced by 30% in just over 3 years
    2. Admission to aged care for those aged under 65 has reduced by 68% in 3 years
  3. Participants are receiving significantly higher levels of funded support:

    1. Participants entering from State/Territory systems are receiving 50% more funded supports (on average) than before they transferred to the NDIS
    2. The average payments for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024 are $63,000 ($43,900 for participants not in SIL and $409,400 for participants in SIL).
    3. 450 participants receive support packages over $1 million per annum
    4. 5,100 participants receive over $500,000

Government funding for home care can only rise, as healthcare moves towards a consumer-based model that aim to prevent overrun hospitals and premature admission into aged care homes. The most recent budget forecast is that NDIS funding will be more than $30 billion in 2024-25 compared to $16.7 billion in the Financial Year 2021. In disability care, at 31 March 2024 was 649,623 people are being supported by the government through the NDIS – a figure that will increase to over 682,000 people by 2025

∆ Home Care Packages

Home Care Packages are designed to assist people over 65 to continue to live independently in their own homes. Home Care Packages are implemented with individual budgets, depending on the needs of the client. The government provides a daily subsidy for consumers to spend on their care needs. Their expenses are delivered and managed by a service provider and must be based on goals.

The service provider may set fees such as initial assessment fee, administration fee and case management fee.

This information must be transparent and provided to the client before they agree to sign up with the provider. The provider must also provide monthly statements which give clear information on where the funds are being directed, including money in (government subsidy and client fees) and money out (expenses including direct care services, consumables and administration fees).

The client must be assessed by the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) and made eligible before they are able to access a Home Care Package. To receive assessment from ACAT, the client must register with My Aged Care.

The ACAT assessor will assess and approve eligible people as requiring different levels of care:

  • Level 1
  • Level 2
  • Level 3
  • Level 4

All Home Care Packages must be delivered on a Consumer Directed Care basis which means that the care and services provided must meet the needs and wishes of the client receiving the package. There are things that a Home Care Package cannot provide which include services that a person without a disability or frailty would be expected to pay (rent, fees, food, medication and more).

In 2016, there were around 3.7 million Australians aged over 65. By 2056, it is expected that this number will grow to 8.7 million (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare).

The government responds to this projected increase in over 65’s population by emphasizing the importance of staying at home and increasing funding to in-home services. The growing market and demand for in home services presents a perfect opportunity to join an already successful group, dedicated to providing quality care and innovative services to their clients.

At 30 September 2021, 186,570 people were in a Home Care Package, an increase of 24.5% increase over September 2020. A further 17,576 were considering whether to take up their offer and 51,662 people who were seeking a HCP at their approved level had not yet been approved. The estimated number of HCPs across the forward estimates is 275,597 by June 2025.

Number of people in a Home Care Package since 31 December 2019

aged care franchise

INCREASED INVESTMENT

Since the 2018-19 Budget, the Government has announced the release of an additional 83,105 HCPs at a cost of around $5.5 billion.

Table 1: Announcements made for additional HCPs since the 2018-19 Budget

Budgut Updating Timing of Announcments HCPs Expenditure($m)
2018-19 Budget May-18 14,000 1600.4
2018-19 MYEFO Dec-18 10,000 287.3
2019-20 Budget Apr-19 10,000 282.4
2019-20 MYEFO Dec-19 10,000 496.3
2020-21 Budget Jul-20 6,105 325.7
2020-21 Budget Oct-20 23,000 1,620.6
2020-21 MYEFO Dec-20 10,000 850.8
Total   83,105 5,463.5

HOME CARE SECTOR FACTS

Only a small number of providers work with culturally and lingustically diverse communities, creating a gap in the care market.
Now is a great time to open a business that truly cares for seniors and NDIS recipients in the community. The government has opened doors for home care providers, with a record 80,000 new home care packages for Australians, plus an extra $13.2 billion committed to the NDIS over 4 years.
Over 649,623 people are being supported by the government through the NDIS – a figure that will increase to over 682,000 people by 2025.
“The Australian Government recently announced an increase in funding for aged care, including the release of 24,100 additional Home Care Packages in 2024-2025. This is great news for older Australians over the age of 65 and their loved ones.”

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