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What We Do
Aged Care Volunteer Visitor Scheme (ACVVS)
Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS) previously known as Community Visitor Scheme (CVS) is an Australian Government initiative that funds not for profit organisations to recruit and train volunteers to visit older people who are living in their own homes or who are residents at aged care facilities, and are experiencing social
and cultural isolation and feelings of loneliness and would benefit from a friendly visitor.
For more information about this program please click here.
Through the ACVVS and previously CVS Program, the Association has addressed the need for social support to isolated seniors who are the recipients of home care packages and more recently older people who receive government funded residential aged care services.
The project’s involvement has resulted in the Association being able to organise regular visits which has provided friendship and companionship to isolated elderly people.
SCAA CVS’s services include:
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One-on-One visits to Home Care Package recipients in the following regions: Sothern Metro, Western Metro, Northern Metro and Eastern Metro.
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One-on-One visits to recipients of the government funded residential aged care services in the following regions: Southern Metro, Western Metro, Northern Metro and Eastern Metro.
Additional Carer Respite Funding 2023-25
The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing provides funding to eligible organisations to provide respite for unpaid carers from 2023 through to 30 June 2025.
The Serbian Community Association of Australia has secured the funding for the project and will provide support and respite to carers of the Serbian background in the City of Greater Dandenong, City of Brimbank and City of Wodonga.
The project is aiming to provide a personalised approach and tailored care, to ensure that caregiver’s breaks are
accessible, personalised and enjoyable for both the carer and the person they care for.
By utilising its connections with carers on a personal level and working with members of the broader Serbian community, our project aims to promote respite services in the community and enable better utilisation of respite
services.
SCAA will tailor services that respond to the needs of Serbian carers and provide different options in order to choose what is best for them. This means the activities will be according to their need and also at the time and location suitable to them.
Under this program SCAA will organise:
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Individual (one-to-one) respite where the care recipient is supported in their home or in the community for an event or outing.
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Respite in a group setting which will include activities of choice such as recreational activities (tai chi, walking sessions or similar) and social activities (morning tea, picnic, etc).
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Respite sessions with concurrent activities for carers, where the carer and the person being cared for are participating in different activities at the same time.
Palliative Care Project
In 2024, SCAA received a grant from Palliative Care Victoria to distribute information about palliative care services and advance care planning to members of the Serbian and other multicultural / multifaith communities.
The project will involve the following activities:
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Organising and delivering information sessions promoting palliative care services and advance care planning to members of the Serbian community.
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Organising and delivering information sessions promoting palliative care services and advance care planning to members of other multicultural/multifaith communities (as determined by SCAA).
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Undertaking media engagement activities promoting palliative care services and advance care planning aimed at the Serbian and other multicultural/multifaith communities.