Caregiver Services
for Australian Families.
Caregiver services in Sri Lanka for Australian families solve a problem no amount of phone calls can fix. Your mum and dad are ageing in Colombo. You are in Melbourne, Sydney or Perth. BetterHands places a vetted carer in their home and reports back after every shift — timed for Australian hours, not Sri Lankan ones.
Read it over dinner
Not at 3am your time
12
Australian cities
1,000+
Carer profiles
Vetted and reference-checked
14 Days
Placement guarantee
Or we escalate immediately
96%
First-match success
50+ matching factors
PHSRC
Registered nurses
For clinical home nursing
The distance nobody planned for
Why Australian Families Arrange Caregiver Services in Sri Lanka.
The migration story is familiar in Dandenong, Glen Waverley, Toongabbie and Thornlie. You came for study or work. Your parents stayed in Colombo, or Kandy, or the village they never wanted to leave.
For years the arrangement worked. Then a knee gave out, or a diagnosis arrived, and suddenly the eleven-hour flight is not a holiday plan but a logistics problem.
Most Australian families try the same three things first. A relative nearby. A neighbour who is kind. A helper hired informally through someone who knows someone. Each works until it does not, and you find out days later, from the other side of the Indian Ocean.
- Elderly care at home arranged entirely from Australia
- Home nursing care for diabetes, cardiac and post-stroke conditions
- A written welfare update after every shift, not only when something breaks
- One coordination team to ring, instead of four relatives to chase
The funding question everyone asks
What Australian Aged Care Does Not Cover Overseas.
This is the first thing most families want settled, so here it is plainly.
Home Care Packages
Funded for care delivered in Australia. A package cannot follow your parents to Sri Lanka, regardless of their residency history.
Commonwealth Home Support
Same principle. The programme supports people ageing at home within Australia, not relatives living abroad.
Private arrangement
Care in Sri Lanka is therefore paid privately. The upside is that Sri Lankan rates make daily, in-home support genuinely affordable.
One important distinction gets muddled often. Age Pension portability is a separate question from aged care funding. Some Australian pensioners can continue receiving payments while living overseas, under conditions that change with circumstances and length of absence.
That is income, however, not a care entitlement. Because the rules genuinely differ case by case, check your parents' specific position with My Aged Care or Services Australia rather than relying on what a relative was told years ago.
Built around your clock
How Care Works Across the Australia–Sri Lanka Time Difference.
Australia spans three time zones. Sri Lanka has one. That gap decides when you hear anything at all.
AEST
4½ hours ahead
of Sri Lanka
Melbourne · Sydney · Brisbane · Canberra · Hobart
ACST
4 hours ahead
of Sri Lanka
Adelaide · Darwin
AWST
2½ hours ahead
of Sri Lanka
Perth
Carers write the welfare update at the end of the Sri Lankan shift rather than at a fixed hour. Consequently a Melbourne family reads it over dinner. A Perth family reads it late afternoon. Nobody has to set an alarm to be a good son or daughter.
The same logic applies to calls. Sri Lankan office hours overlap comfortably with Australian evenings, so a conversation with the coordination team does not require annual leave. During daylight saving the gap widens by an hour in the eastern states, and we adjust the schedule accordingly.
Distance also shapes what good reporting looks like. A local family notices a decline by walking through the door. From Australia you only know what is written down, which is why every update covers meals, medication, mobility and mood as standard.
Arranged from your kitchen table
How BetterHands Supports Australian Families.
Five steps. Not one of them requires you to be in Sri Lanka.
01
Tell us what worries you
One call or WhatsApp message, timed for your evening. No forms, no obligation, no cost. Most families begin here after a bad phone call with their parents.
02
We assess in person
Our team visits your parents at home in Sri Lanka. We look at mobility, medication, the house itself, and what your mum will realistically accept.
03
We match a carer
Matching runs on language, temperament, clinical need and location. You review the profile from Australia before anybody starts work.
04
Updates after every shift
Meals, medication, mobility and mood, written up and sent by WhatsApp. It lands during your evening rather than the small hours.
05
Wrong fit? Replaced free
Unlimited replacements under the annual membership. Judging a match from Australia is hard, so we removed the cap entirely.
Australian families usually worry about one specific thing at step two. They assume their parents will refuse outright, and quite often the parents do at first. Resistance is rarely about the care itself, however. It is about not wanting to become a burden to a child who already lives too far away.
For that reason the assessment is deliberately unhurried. Many families start with a few hours of companion care rather than clinical support, because company is easier to accept than help. Acceptance generally follows familiarity, and the hours increase from there.
Wherever you settled
Caregiver Services in Sri Lanka by Australian City.
The care happens in Sri Lanka. These are the Australian cities our families ring from.
Sri Lankan communities in Australia cluster tightly. In Melbourne that means the south-east — Dandenong, Noble Park and Glen Waverley. In Sydney it is Toongabbie, Pendle Hill and Homebush. Perth families concentrate around Thornlie, and Brisbane around Sunnybank.
We mention this because word of mouth still does most of the work. Families who find us usually heard about BetterHands at a temple, a wedding or a cricket match long before they visited this page.
Making the visit count
What to Check on Your Next Trip Home to Sri Lanka.
Most Australian families get home once a year, sometimes less. Those two weeks are the only unfiltered look you get.
Look past the welcome
- The fridge, honestly — how much real food, and how old
- Medication boxes: untouched, or emptied unevenly
- Whether the bathroom has quietly become a room they avoid
- Furniture shifted to make handholds between rooms
- Unopened post, unpaid bills, missed appointment cards
- How they manage stairs when they think nobody is watching
Set it up before you fly out
- Book the free assessment while you are still in the house
- Let your parents meet the carer with you present
- Agree who in Sri Lanka holds a spare key and why
- Write down the medication list and hand it over properly
- Introduce the carer to a neighbour your parents already trust
- Leave with the first week of updates already arranged
Starting care while you are physically there changes the odds considerably. Your parents meet the carer as your guest rather than as a stranger sent from Colombo. Introductions carry weight in Sri Lankan households, and that first impression tends to hold.
Families who wait until they land back in Australia often lose months. The conversation becomes a phone negotiation across a four-and-a-half hour gap, and every objection is harder to answer from Tullamarine than from the front room in Nugegoda.
Therefore the practical advice is simple. Book the assessment for the week you are home, not the week after you leave. Elderly care at home started in person almost always outlasts care arranged by phone.
Straight answers
What Australian Families Ask Before They Commit.
How much does home care in Sri Lanka cost?
A one-time annual membership covers coordination, payroll and unlimited carer replacements. Daily rates then apply by staff role, from carer through to registered nurse. Full rates appear below, and the care assessment is free and comes first.
Do I have to fly to Sri Lanka to organise it?
No. Assessment, matching, approval and payment all run remotely from Australia. Your parents meet the carer in person. You review the profile, approve the plan, and receive written updates after every shift.
Who is accountable if standards slip?
BetterHands is. Carers are employed and payrolled through us rather than introduced and forgotten. One coordination team owns the placement, there is a number to ring, and the replacement guarantee has no cap.
Where the care actually happens
Island-wide coverage in Sri Lanka.
BetterHands coordinates carers from our office in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, just outside Colombo. Placements run island-wide, including Kandy, Galle, Negombo, Matara and Jaffna.
There is no district loading. A placement two hours from the capital costs the same daily rate as one in Colombo 7. Families discharged from the National Hospital of Sri Lanka or private hospitals are transitioned home directly.
BetterHands (Pvt) Ltd
200 Narahenpita - Nawala Rd, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 11222, Sri Lanka
+94 74 21 21 744Transparent pricing
Membership first, then simple daily rates.
One annual membership covers coordination, payroll and unlimited carer replacements. After that you pay a flat daily rate for the level of care your parents need. Fees are charged in Sri Lankan rupees.
BetterHands Annual Membership
LKR 20,000
One-time annual registration fee
- Unlimited caregiver replacements at no additional cost if you are not satisfied
- Payroll management and caregiver administration
- Ongoing coordination and support from the BetterHands team
- Access to all services covered under the BetterHands membership
Step two — daily service rates
Duties below are what each role normally provides — your care plan is tailored during the free assessment.
Caregiver
Daily living support and companionship
LKR 4,500/day
- Friendly conversation and companionship
- Bathing and personal care assistance (if required)
- Medication reminders and general supervision
- Simple meals and refreshments
- Short walks and light activities (if appropriate)
- Day-to-day assistance and emotional support
Daily rates are charged in addition to the one-time annual registration fee of LKR 20,000. The same daily rates apply to day care, night care, live-in, and hospital bystander support — no shift premiums, no travel supplements for any district. A free care assessment is provided before any commitment.
A one-way transfer for the caregiver is arranged at the start of placement.
Families we look after
Trusted with the people who raised us.
“BetterHands transformed my mother's quality of life. The caregivers are professional, compassionate, and treat her with so much dignity. Our whole family is relieved and grateful.”
Chamari W.
Colombo 07
“After my father's heart surgery at Lanka Hospitals, the nursing team from BetterHands provided exceptional post-operative care at home. They were thorough, kind, and always on time.”
Roshan & Dilini P.
Nugegoda
“My grandfather was very lonely after being discharged from hospital. His BetterHands companion has become a true friend — he is happier and more engaged than he's been in years.”
Priya N.
Kandy
Questions from Australia
Frequently Asked Questions from Australian Families.
Yes, and most of our families do exactly that. BetterHands runs a free assessment with your parents in Sri Lanka, matches a carer, and sends you a welfare update after every shift. You approve the care plan and pay from Australia. Nobody has to fly home to set it up.
No. Australian aged care funding, including Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, applies to care delivered inside Australia. Care for a parent living in Sri Lanka is therefore paid privately. Age Pension portability is a separate matter, so check your parent's situation with Services Australia directly.
Sri Lanka sits about four and a half hours behind Melbourne and Sydney, four behind Adelaide, and two and a half behind Perth. Carers write the welfare update at the end of the Sri Lankan shift. For most Australian families that arrives during the evening, not the middle of the night.
BetterHands places carers island-wide, not only in the capital. There is no district travel supplement, so a placement in Kandy, Galle or Negombo costs the same daily rate as one in Colombo. Availability for the specific area is confirmed during the free assessment.
Placement is guaranteed within 14 days of the completed assessment, and many families are matched sooner. Hospital discharges and other urgent situations are escalated immediately. The assessment itself is usually arranged within a few days of your first call or WhatsApp message.
You get unlimited replacements at no extra cost under the annual membership. A poor match is far harder to notice from Australia and far more stressful when you do. For that reason the replacement guarantee has no cap for the life of your membership.
Fees are charged in Sri Lankan rupees, and most Australian families settle monthly. The membership is a one-time annual registration fee, with daily rates billed for care actually delivered. Our coordination team confirms the practical payment options during your assessment.
BetterHands nurses are registered with Sri Lanka's Private Health Services Regulatory Council. Aged care entitlements should be confirmed with Services Australia, as individual circumstances vary.
Keep reading
Related pages for Australian families.
You cannot move home. They will not move here.
That is the honest position for most Sri Lankan families in Australia. Flights are long, leave is finite, and your parents have said no to Australia more than once. Caregiver services in Sri Lanka exist for exactly this situation.
A vetted carer in the house. Home nursing when the condition calls for it. A written update after every shift, landing while you are still awake. One team accountable for all of it, with unlimited replacements if the match is wrong.
The assessment costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Occasionally it tells families their parents need less help than they feared. Either way you stop guessing from six thousand kilometres away.
Check it yourself
Sources and further reading for Australian families.
Entitlements and health guidance change. These are the official sources — go to them rather than taking our word for it.
Your parents are in Sri Lanka.
We can be there tomorrow.
A 15-minute call, timed for your evening rather than ours. We will tell you honestly what your parents need — even if that turns out to be less than you expected.
1,000+
Caregiver profiles
96%
First-match success
Trained
Caregiver training
14
Days to placement