Home Care in
Sri Lanka
for Canberra Families.
Home care in Sri Lanka for Canberra families serves a professional community that turns over more than most. People arrive for a posting and leave again, which makes local support harder to rely on. BetterHands places a vetted carer in your parents home and reports to Canberra after every shift.
A public service town
With a transient community
4½ hrs
Behind Colombo
1,000+
Carer profiles
Vetted and reference-checked
72 Hours
Placement guarantee
Or we escalate immediately
96%
First-match success
50+ matching factors
PHSRC
Registered nurses
For clinical home nursing
Professional, and more transient than it looks
Why Canberra Families Arrange Home Care in Sri Lanka.
Canberra holds a comparatively small Sri Lankan community spread across Gungahlin, Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong rather than gathered in one district.
It is heavily weighted towards the public service, the universities and the research institutes. A good number arrived for a specific role and expect to move again.
Consequently the community is knowledgeable but not deeply rooted, and the person who could advise you may have transferred interstate. That is where professional home care earns its place.
- Public service and university households on fixed leave calendars
- Parents who never emigrated, so no Australian entitlement applies to them
- A community that turns over with postings and contracts
- Families who are frequently the only relative outside Sri Lanka
Four and a half hours ahead, Sydney's clock
Calling Colombo from Canberra: Finding the Window.
Canberra shares Sydney's time, four and a half hours ahead of Colombo and five and a half over the summer. The evening window is the one that works reliably.
Your evening, their afternoon
Seven in the evening in Canberra is half past two in Colombo. Late enough to be after the office, early enough that your parents are not winding down.
Your early morning is their night
Six in the morning here is half past one at night in Colombo. It wakes the household and tells you very little, so we plan around it.
The update lands late evening
The Colombo shift closes around six in the evening, half past ten at night here. Most Canberra families read it the following morning rather than staying up.
When the person who advised you has been posted elsewhere
Canberra families often tell us the friend who would have known about this has moved to Sydney or Melbourne. A transient professional community is excellent for advice right up until the person leaves.
For that reason we send the written assessment before asking for any decision. It gives you something concrete about your own parents to judge, independent of whoever happens to be in town.
Agreed in advance, not invented at 3am
Decisions to Make Before You Need Them.
Public service hours and sitting weeks do not bend, so the escalation plan has to work without you being reachable.
Who we ring first
One named person in Canberra, and one contact in Sri Lanka who can physically attend. Both agreed and recorded before the placement begins.
Which hospital
Named in advance with a second choice, so nobody is choosing a hospital late at night from the ACT.
What proceeds without you
We agree what the carer and our office may decide alone, so nothing urgent waits on a call you could not take.
What we can put in place
Home Care Services for Your Parents in Sri Lanka.
Where our Canberra families live
Serving Sri Lankan Families Across Canberra.
The care always happens in Sri Lanka. What changes across the ACT is mostly how long a household expects to stay.
Gungahlin
The fastest-growing district and where most of our Canberra enquiries begin. Younger families, many recently arrived.
Belconnen
Established and close to the university, with a mix of academic and public service households.
Woden
Central and long-settled, with families who have been in the ACT for a decade or more.
Tuggeranong
Southern and more suburban, where households are often the only Sri Lankan family nearby.
Before you commit
What Canberra Families Ask Before They Commit.
Will My Aged Care fund care in Sri Lanka?
No. Australian aged care is federally funded for care delivered inside Australia, after an ACAT assessment. A parent living in Colombo has never been an Australian resident, so the care there is a private arrangement from the outset.
The person who would have advised me has moved interstate. Now what?
It is common in Canberra. We send a written assessment of your own parents before asking for any decision, so you are judging something concrete rather than needing a local recommendation.
Who is accountable if standards slip?
BetterHands is. Carers are employed and payrolled through us, not introduced and forgotten. One 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.
No district loading applies. 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
Most families start here — a parent who is managing, but should not be alone all 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
Nursing Assistant
Personal care plus basic clinical support
LKR 6,000/day
Common where diabetes, blood pressure or early-stage dementia needs daily monitoring.
- Everything in the caregiver role
- Vital signs monitoring (BP, blood sugar, SpO₂)
- Medication reminders and administration support
- Basic wound and continence care
Professional Nurse
Complex medical and post-operative needs
LKR 9,000/day
Usually after a hospital discharge, a stroke, or where wounds and IV care are involved.
- Everything in the nursing assistant role
- PHSRC-registered clinical nursing
- Wound care, injections, and IV therapy
- Catheter, NG tube, and post-operative care
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 and live-in support — no shift premiums, no travel supplements for any district. Hospital bystander cover is priced by shift length instead — see that service page for its packages. 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 Canberra
Frequently Asked Questions from Canberra Families.
Yes. The free assessment happens with your parents in Sri Lanka while you join by phone or video, and matching, approval and payment run remotely from the ACT.
Four and a half hours ahead, widening to five and a half over the summer. Canberra shares Sydney's clock exactly, including daylight saving.
No. Every itinerary connects through Sydney or Melbourne first, then Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or the Gulf. That extra domestic leg makes emergency travel slower than from a capital.
No. Australian aged care is federally funded for care delivered inside Australia, after an ACAT assessment. A parent living in Colombo has never been an Australian resident, so the care there is a private arrangement from the outset.
Not for arranging care. Most of our Australian families have parents who never emigrated, so no Australian entitlement applies and the arrangement is private from the outset.
Most placements begin within seventy-two hours of an approved care plan. Where a parent is being discharged from hospital we work to the discharge date instead.
We replace them, with no cap on replacements inside your membership year. Carers are employed by BetterHands, so a change of placement is our responsibility.
Yes. Language is a formal matching factor alongside cooking, religious observance, temperament and medical experience, agreed before the placement begins.
BetterHands nurses are registered with Sri Lanka's Private Health Services Regulatory Council. Australian aged care is federally funded and delivered inside Australia only. Confirm your own position with My Aged Care and Services Australia, as circumstances vary.
Everyone here moves on. Your parents do not.
Canberra is full of people on a posting. The community is capable and well informed, and it changes shape every couple of years, which is not much use when you need a standing arrangement.
A vetted carer in the house, and one company answerable for it. Home nursing where the condition calls for it, and a written record that does not depend on who is in town.
The assessment is free and there is nothing to sign afterwards. Occasionally it ends with us saying your parents need very little yet. Either way the arrangement outlasts the next transfer.
Check it yourself
Sources and further reading for Canberra 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 are already there.
A 15-minute call in your Canberra evening, and a written assessment you can weigh up without asking around.
1,000+
Caregiver profiles
96%
First-match success
Trained
Caregiver training
72
Hours to placement