Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS)
Funded by the Australian government
ACVVS Purpose
Our Centre became an ACVVS provider in July 2023 but the scheme has been running for over 30 years and was previously known as the Community Visitors Scheme (CVS). This service is funded by the Australian Government.
The scheme supports volunteer visits to provide friendship and companionship to older people.
Visits are available to anyone who:
- receives government-subsidised residential aged care or Home Care Packages, including care recipients approved or on the National Priority System for residential or home care packages
- is socially isolated.
Why is it important?
Some older people can feel alone for various reasons, including:
- feeling isolated from their culture and heritage
- little contact with friends or relatives
- mobility issues that prevent them from taking part in social or leisure activities
- being different in some way.
Regular visits from volunteers can help to improve quality of life and help older people feel less isolated.
Goals
Volunteer visiting is a free service that aims to:
- provide friendship and companionship to older people
- help develop social connections to Reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation and promote a sense of belonging
- Maintain independence and potentially enhance longevity
It focuses on the needs of older people from particular linguistic, cultural and complex vulnerability backgrounds who may be at greater risk of social isolation. In our Centre’s case, they include people:
- from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- who live in specific regional/rural areas
- who are financially or socially disadvantaged
- who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
- who are Community Nursing (CN) recipients who also receive Commonwealth funded Home Care Package service)
- who are care leavers
- who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex
How it works
Our Centre is funded by the Australian Government to:
- recruit, train and support volunteer visitors
- conduct police checks for volunteers
- match volunteers to older people receiving aged care
- support the relationships that form between the volunteers and the people they visit.
Volunteers are required to visit the consumers that they have agreed to visit, at least 20 times per year. They can be:
- one-on-one or group visits to residential aged care homes
- one-on-one visits to people receiving Home Care Packages.
Accessing ACVVS
Request a volunteer visitor
Older Australians who may not have regular contact with friends or relatives, or are feeling isolated from their culture or heritage, can be referred by an aged care service provider to a volunteer visiting network member in the local area.
Older Australians receiving government-funded aged care services can refer themselves. If you are interested in requesting a volunteer visitor, please use the Request a volunteer form below.
This form is for anyone who would like to request a volunteer visitor (for them self or someone else.)
The form link is below
Become a volunteer visitor
Becoming an aged care volunteer visitor can be a rewarding and life-changing experience.
You will:
- make a friend
- share ideas and stories
- help someone who might be feeling isolated or lonely.
Volunteers usually visit for an hour once a fortnight, at a time that suits both the volunteer and the person receiving aged care services. Volunteers can visit the older person in:
- their own home
- their aged care home
- a public venue.
People receiving aged care services come from all different social and cultural backgrounds. We encourage volunteers from all social and cultural backgrounds to join the program. We have volunteer visiting network members for each state and territory who match volunteers with older Australians in their local area. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer visitor, please use the form link below.
