What the scheme is
This 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.
We work with around 140 community organisations (auspices) to recruit and support volunteers to visit socially isolated older Australians.
The scheme has been running for over 30 years. It was previously known as the Community Visitors Scheme (CVS).
Why it is important
Some older people can feel alone for various reasons. This includes:
- 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.
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. These include people:
- from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- who live in rural or remote areas
- who are financially or socially disadvantaged
- who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
- who are veterans (note: Veterans Home Care (VHC) or Community Nursing (CN) recipients must also receive Commonwealth funded Home Care Package service)
- who are care leavers
- who are parents separated from their children by forced adoption or removal
- who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex
- living with a disability
- who are deaf or hearing impaired/hard of hearing
- living with cognitive impairment, including dementia
- experiencing mental health conditions and/or who have been exposed to trauma.
How it works
We fund community organisations (auspices) 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 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.
Older people can refer themselves. The scheme also accepts referrals from:
- aged care service providers
- family members
- friends
- health professionals.
Learn more about how to become a volunteer visitor.
Request a volunteer visitor (for yourself or someone else).
Who we work with
Community organisations (auspices) are funded through grant rounds to provide services.
Network members represent each state and territory. Their role is to:
- support community organisations (auspices) to deliver the scheme
- coordinate volunteers and services in each state and territory
- help communication between community organisations (auspices) and us.
We manage and organise regular reviews of the scheme.
Community organisations we work with
| State or territory | Organisation |
|---|---|
| ACT | Ageing With Grace |
| ACT | Australian Red Cross Society |
| ACT | Council on the Ageing (ACT) |
| ACT | Feros Care |
| ACT | HammondCare |
| ACT | Meridian |
| ACT | Ms Plus |
| NSW | Accessible Diversity Services Initiative |
| NSW | Acon Health |
| NSW | Ageing With Grace |
| NSW | Anglican Community Services (Anglicare Sydney) |
| NSW | Australian Nursing Home Foundation |
| NSW | Australian Red Cross Society |
| NSW | Belong Blue Mountains |
| NSW | Catholic Healthcare |
| NSW | CatholicCare Sydney |
| NSW | CCNB (Belong) |
| NSW | Chester Hill Neighbourhood Centre |
| NSW | Chinese Australian Services Society |
| NSW | Co As It Italian Association of Assistance |
| NSW | Digital Literacy Foundation |
| NSW | Feros Care |
| NSW | Foundation for Education and Training (Creston College) |
| NSW | Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia consolidated Trust Greek Welfare Centre |
| NSW | HammondCare |
| NSW | Hunter Volunteer Centre |
| NSW | Hurstville Enterprise Association for People Services (St Georges Career Development Centre) |
| NSW | Intereach |
| NSW | Ku-Ring-Gai Neighbourhood Centre (KNC) |
| NSW | Lifeline Northern Beaches |
| NSW | Linked Community Services |
| NSW | Manning Support Services |
| NSW | Many Rooms |
| NSW | Meridian |
| NSW | Ms Plus |
| NSW | Multicultural Care |
| NSW | Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra |
| NSW | Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of New South Wales |
| NSW | Neighbourhood Central |
| NSW | Northern Rivers Community Gateway |
| NSW | Northern Settlement Services (Mosaic Multicultural Connections) |
| NSW | Orange City Council |
| NSW | Oxley Community Transport Service |
| NSW | Pathways Community Care |
| NSW | Riverina Community College |
| NSW | Spanish Community Care Association |
| NSW | St Vincent's Care Services |
| NSW | Sydney Local Health District |
| NSW | The Salvation Army (New South Wales) Property Trust |
| NSW | The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) |
| NSW | Toukley Neighbourhood Centre |
| NSW | Volunteering Central Coast |
| NSW | Volunteering Coffs Harbour |
| NSW | Wesley Community Services |
| NSW | Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre |
| NT | Ageing With Grace |
| NT | Anglicare NT |
| NT | MVP Wellbeing |
| Qld | All Aged Care |
| Qld | Burdekin Community Association |
| Qld | Co.As.It. Community Services |
| Qld | Comlink Australia |
| Qld | Community Gro |
| Qld | Eddison and Clare (Sunnycare Home Services) |
| Qld | Emerge Community Care |
| Qld | Feros Care |
| Qld | Footprints Community |
| Qld | Gladstone Community Linking Agency |
| Qld | Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre |
| Qld | IMPACT Community Services |
| Qld | Latin American Community of Australia (Qld) |
| Qld | Mackay Community Visitors Association |
| Qld | Many Rooms |
| Qld | MiCare |
| Qld | MultiLink Community Services |
| Qld | Queensland Community Care Network |
| Qld | Queensland Council for LGBTI Health |
| Qld | Seventh Day Adventist Church Community Visitation Program |
| Qld | Skill Centred Queensland |
| Qld | St John Ambulance Australia Queensland |
| Qld | St Vincent's Care Services |
| Qld | Star Community Services |
| Qld | Suncare Community Services |
| Qld | The Corporation of the Synod of the Diocese of Brisbane (Anglicare Southern Queensland) |
| Qld | Volunteering Gold Coast |
| Qld | Warrina Innisfail Auxiliary |
| Qld | Wesley Mission Queensland |
| Qld | Wynnum Baptist Church Community Visitors Scheme |
| SA | Australian Red Cross Society |
| SA | Chinese Welfare Services of South Australia |
| SA | Community Care and Transport (Care in Motion) |
| SA | Council on the Ageing (South Australia) |
| SA | Enfield Baptist Church |
| SA | Golden Retriever Club of South Australia |
| SA | HammondCare |
| SA | Helping Hand Aged Care |
| SA | Lutheran Church of Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory District |
| SA | Mount Barker District Council |
| SA | Multicultural Communities Council of SA |
| SA | Southern Volunteering (SA) |
| SA | St John Ambulance Australia South Australia |
| SA | The City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters |
| SA | Thorne Harbour Health |
| Tas | Australian Red Cross Society |
| Tas | genU Karingal St Laurence |
| Tas | Lifeline Tasmania |
| Tas | Working It Out |
| Vic | Ageing With Grace |
| Vic | Australian Greek Welfare Society (Pronia) |
| Vic | Australian Multicultural Community Services |
| Vic | Australian Red Cross Society |
| Vic | Australian-Filipino Community Services (CPCA Victoria) |
| Vic | Balwyn Evergreen Centre |
| Vic | C Care |
| Vic | Central Bayside Community Health Services (Better Health Network) |
| Vic | Chabad Institutions of Victoria |
| Vic | Colac Area Health |
| Vic | DEG (Active Community Group) |
| Vic | Doncaster Community Care and Counselling Centre |
| Vic | Feros Care |
| Vic | Fronditha Care |
| Vic | HammondCare |
| Vic | Inclusion Melbourne |
| Vic | Intereach |
| Vic | Jocare - Caring for Neighbours |
| Vic | genU Karingal St Laurence |
| Vic | Latrobe Community Health Service |
| Vic | Macedon Ranges Shire Council |
| Vic | Many Rooms |
| Vic | MECWA |
| Vic | Melbourne City Mission |
| Vic | MiCare |
| Vic | Migrant Information Centre (Eastern Melbourne) |
| Vic | Ms Plus |
| Vic | MVP Wellbeing |
| Vic | Nexus Primary Health |
| Vic | Residential Care Rights (Elder Rights Advocacy) |
| Vic | Russian Ethnic Representative Council of Victoria |
| Vic | Sacred Heart Mission |
| Vic | Serbian Community Association of Australia |
| Vic | Smile on Seniors Oz |
| Vic | Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre |
| Vic | St Vincent's Care Services |
| Vic | Switchboard (Victoria) |
| Vic | Tabulam and Templer Homes for the Aged |
| Vic | The Centre for Continuing Education |
| Vic | Thorne Harbour Health |
| Vic | United- Spanish Latin American Welfare Centre |
| WA | Advocare Incorporated |
| WA | Association for Culturally Appropriate Services |
| WA | Australian Red Cross Society |
| WA | Baptistcare WA |
| WA | City of Stirling |
| WA | Dutch Aged Care, Western Australia (CURA) |
| WA | Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Intersex Rights in Ageing (GRAI) |
| WA | Home and Lifestyle Options |
| WA | Italo-Australian Welfare & Cultural Centre |
| WA | Living Stone Foundation (Lifeline WA) |
| WA | Melville Cares |
| WA | Multicultural Services Centre of Western Australia |
| WA | Nuhra Community |
| WA | People Who Care |
| WA | Riverview Community Services |
| WA | Shire of Esperance |
| WA | Umbrella - Multicultural Community Care Services |
There are network members representing each state and territory. Their role is to:
- support community organisations (auspices) to deliver the scheme
- coordinate volunteers and services in each state and territory
- help communication between community organisations (auspices) and us.
Evaluation and review
We appointed Monash University to evaluate the ACVVS from 2023–2026.
The evaluation will test the:
- effectiveness of the social support intervention in improving quality of life for participants (recipients and volunteers) through reduction of social isolation and loneliness
- effectiveness of the social support intervention for diverse, complex vulnerability and cultural groups including funding models and delivery pathways
- cost effectiveness of the intervention’s impact on health, mental health and aged care service usage for care recipients
- extent to which the scheme has achieved its intended program outcomes.
Date last updated: