Whether you want to find someone special or just make a new friend, a Introduction Agency can help. These services offer a safe and secure way to meet people. Australian consumer law protects your rights when you buy goods or services including match-making and dating agencies.

This article explores what a Introduction Agency does and does not do. It compares the differences between a Managed Agency and an Introduction Agency to help you choose what type of service might be best for your family.

The main difference between a managed agency and an introduction agency is that a managed agency employs the carers. This means that the agency pays the carers sick pay, holiday pay and national insurance contributions as well as managing their availability and deciding which carer goes to each client. This model is more expensive than an introduction agency because it includes these extra costs.

An Introduction Agency acts as a broker between the care-seeker and self employed nurses or carers who they then hire themselves. The Introduction Agency may charge a fee for this service but generally does not play an ongoing role in the management of the care or day to day instructions from the care-seeker.

Some Introduction Agencies are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and others are not. We recommend checking their CQC registration before using them. This will tell you whether they have a good track record and adhere to the CQC’s requirements for providing live-in care. Introduction Agency