The Carer at Home Scheme in Malta: Who Qualifies, How Much, How to Apply (2026)

If your mum or dad wants to stay at home but needs daily help, Carer at Home is usually the first scheme families in Malta hear about. It helps older people pay a carer they employ themselves; it doesn't send a carer. This guide sets out what the official pages say in October 2026, and where they're silent, we say so rather than guess.

The scheme in brief

The official description says the government "provides financial support to senior citizens who employ a carer of their choice so as to assist them in their daily needs", in both Malta and Gozo (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home). It's run by AACC, a government department. On AACC's Maltese-language pages it appears as Skema Carer at Home (source: AACC: Skema Carer at Home).

Three points shape everything else in this guide:

• The money goes to your parent, not to the carer. It's paid monthly into the applicant's bank account (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home).
• The scheme doesn't supply a carer. Your parent chooses one, employs them and pays them.
• The employment has to be direct. The documents list asks for an employment agreement authenticated by a notary, and for an official document showing the carer "is in regular employment with the applicant" (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home). In practice that means your parent is the employer, with the legal duties that come with it (see how to employ a carer).

Who qualifies

About the medical report. Some private guides say the GP's report must confirm your parent doesn't need clinical care. The official pages don't say that. AACC's form asks about medical history, communication, behaviour, daily living activities, medications and social situation (source: AACC: medical report form), and your parent's GP completes it.

How much it pays in 2026

The beneficiary receives "up to a maximum of €9,000 per year, from when the application is approved", paid monthly into the applicant's bank account (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home). The Budget 2026 speech added €500 to reach €9,000 "for seniors who hire full-time caregivers" (source: Budget Speech 2026), and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Active Ageing confirmed the figure in March 2026 (source: TVM News, 21 Mar 2026). It's paid in 12 monthly payments, and more than 1,100 older people receive it (source: TVM News, 21 Mar 2026).

• It's a maximum. The official pages don't explain how a lower amount is worked out.
• The months before approval don't appear to be covered. That's our reading of "from when the application is approved"; no page says so outright.
• It changes with each Budget. €9,000 is the 2026 figure; it was €8,500 in 2025 (source: TVM News, 6 Jan 2025).
• It covers part of the cost, not all of it. The 2026 legal minimum for a domestic worker employed by the month who sleeps in on at least 17 nights a month is €1,016.37 a month (source: S.L. 452.170, the domestic-service order), or €12,196.44 a year before bonuses and the employer's social security (our arithmetic). Our live-in carer cost guide works through the full figure.

What the carer needs

This is the requirement that's easiest to miss. "The carer must have a recognised qualification", and MQRIC equivalence is needed "in respect of each qualification obtained from abroad, and whenever deemed necessary" by AACC (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home).

• Which qualifications count isn't published. Before offering a job that relies on the scheme, ask AACC whether the carer's certificate will be accepted.
• A work permit doesn't prove it. Identità's checklist for a new live-in carer application doesn't ask for a care qualification (source: Identità: live-in carer checklist, new application), so a carer can hold a valid permit and still not meet this requirement.
• Foreign qualifications add a step. Start the MQRIC recognition early.

On CarerMalta, qualifications and experience are as stated by the carer. We don't check them, and nothing on a profile means a carer meets the scheme's rules. Ask to see the certificate itself and, for a foreign qualification, the MQRIC recognition.

Documents and how to apply

The official documents list (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home):

1. The completed application form.
2. A medical report signed by your parent's GP.
3. A copy of the carer's qualification.
4. A copy of the employment agreement, authenticated by a Notary Public.
5. An official document from Jobsplus, or from Identità for third-country nationals, showing that the carer is in regular employment with the applicant.

On item 5, the two official pages disagree. servizz.gov.mt says Jobsplus or Identità (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home), while AACC's page says Jobsplus and Identità for third-country nationals (source: AACC: Carer at Home Scheme). If the carer is from outside the EU, ask AACC which it wants.

Items 4 and 5 mean the employment has to exist before you apply: a signed and notarised agreement, and the carer registered with Jobsplus. Plan the order of steps with that in mind (our step-by-step employer guide covers the Jobsplus engagement form).

How to apply. Your parent (or someone helping them) applies to AACC in one of two ways:

• Online: through the Carer at Home page on servizz.gov.mt, which links to the government's Elderly Services Application eService form (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home).
• On paper: Carer at Home is item 11 on AACC's combined Elderly Services Application form, marked "Medical Report Required" (source: AACC: Elderly Services Application form). Send it to Active Ageing and Community Care, Old Mint Street, Valletta VLT1510, or email aacc-services@gov.mt (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home).

For questions, the form lists Freephone 153 and telephone 2278 8900 (source: AACC: Elderly Services Application form).

Processing time. servizz.gov.mt gives 32 days to process an application (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home).

Live-in, live-out or part-time?

Families often ask whether the carer has to live in, and whether part-time help qualifies. Here's what is official and what has only been reported.

If you're planning a part-time or live-out arrangement, get AACC's answer in writing before the contract is signed and notarised.

Carer at Home vs Carer's Allowance

Several government payments have "carer" in their name. Only Carer at Home helps pay a carer your parent employs.

If the person cared for is 85 or older, Increased Carer's Allowance is awarded automatically once the care is established (source: Social Security: Increased Carers Allowance). The Carer's Grant (€5,369 a year in 2026) is a different payment, for non-working parents of disabled children (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer's Grant).

"Can my mum pay me to be her carer?" The answer has two parts:

• Carer's Allowance and Increased Carer's Allowance are paid by the state to someone caring full-time for a relative in the same household; the listed relatives include a parent, spouse, brother or sister (source: Social Security: Carers Allowance).
• Whether Carer at Home can subsidise employing a relative isn't stated on any official page. Ask AACC first.

Can they be combined? Not stated. The Social Security pages quote a rule against receiving two benefits at once (source: Social Security: Carers Allowance), but Carer at Home is an AACC scheme, not a Social Security benefit. Ask both offices.

Your parent is the employer

Because the scheme requires employment "with the applicant" (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home), the legal duties of an employer are your parent's, even if you handle the admin. In brief:

• A PE number from the tax office. Jobsplus says household employers must obtain one from the Commissioner for Revenue (source: Jobsplus: household employers).
• A Jobsplus engagement form for the carer, and a termination form when the job ends (source: Jobsplus: household employers).
• Written terms of employment by the seventh calendar day (source: S.L. 452.126), notarised if you're claiming Carer at Home (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home).
• Monthly payroll of tax and social security, plus at least the legal minimum pay, rest days and leave under the domestic-service order, which doesn't name carers but covers "other persons employed in related work" (source: S.L. 452.170, the domestic-service order). If you're unsure it applies, ask the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER).

Our step-by-step guide to employing a carer covers each of these.

The employer-share exemption. An older or disabled person who employs a carer can apply to the Department of Social Security to be exempted from the employer's share of social security contributions. The Exemption Certificate lasts 12 months, and the carer's own share must still be paid (source: Social Security: employer-share exemption for employers of a carer).

A carer from outside the EU. The carer needs a single permit through Identità. For an authorised live-in carer the fee is €27.50 (sources: Identità: single permit; Identità: non-EU employment FAQ). Our guide to hiring a non-EU carer explains the official process. CarerMalta doesn't handle permits, forms or employer paperwork.

If your parent can't sign for themselves. If your mum or dad can't manage their own affairs, speak to a notary or lawyer before signing anything on their behalf.

Looking for a carer for the scheme

Families find carers in different ways: asking friends and neighbours, Facebook groups, job sites and listing sites such as CarerMalta. Whichever route you use, the scheme needs the carer to be employed by your parent. If anyone other than your parent would be the carer's employer, ask AACC first whether that fits the "employment with the applicant" requirement (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home). Our guide to hiring directly or through an agency explains the difference.

How CarerMalta works. Carers create free profiles, sorted by most recently active. You browse them and contact the carers you'd like to speak to directly, or post a job describing the hours and whether it's live-in or live-out. CarerMalta doesn't choose carers, isn't part of the employment, and carers never pay to use it.

Before offering a job that depends on Carer at Home, ask the carer for:

• the qualification certificate, with MQRIC recognition if it's from abroad, and check with AACC that it will be accepted (source: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home);
• proof of the right to work. EU citizens don't need a permit (source: Identità: EU nationals); a non-EU carer needs an Identità residence card or Temporary Authorisation to Work, which Jobsplus asks employers to upload with the engagement form (source: Jobsplus: employment forms);
• references, which you check yourself by phone.

Our guide on interviewing a carer has questions to ask and checks to make.

What the official pages don't say

As of 20 October 2026, none of the official pages we checked answers these questions. Ask AACC (Freephone 153 or aacc-services@gov.mt (sources: servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home; AACC: Elderly Services Application form)) about each one that applies to your family:

• Is there a means test, or a limit on income or savings?
• Can the employed carer be a relative?
• Can Carer at Home be received alongside Carer's Allowance?
• Does a carer qualify if someone other than your parent employs them?
• Is the payment backdated, and on which day is it paid?
• Does a non-EU carer need a Jobsplus document, an Identità document, or both?
• Is part-time or live-out care paid pro rata, and on what basis?
• Which qualifications count as "recognised"?

Scheme rules and amounts change with each Budget, so check the official page again before you sign a contract.

Sources we checked

Every figure and rule in this guide links to the official page it comes from. We re-check them when the rules or the Budget change.

1. servizz.gov.mt: Carer at Home, page updated 20 Jun 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
2. AACC: Carer at Home Scheme, page updated 6 Jan 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
3. Budget Speech 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
4. TVM News, 21 Mar 2026, page updated 21 Mar 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
5. AACC: medical report form. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
6. S.L. 452.170, the domestic-service order. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
7. Identità: live-in carer checklist, new application. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
8. AACC: Elderly Services Application form. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
9. TVM News, 6 Jan 2025, page updated 6 Jan 2025. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
10. Social Security: Carers Allowance, page updated 24 Dec 2025. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
11. Social Security: Increased Carers Allowance, page updated 11 Jun 2025. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
12. Social Security: Schedule of Benefits Rates. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
13. servizz.gov.mt: Carer's Grant, page updated 25 Jun 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
14. Jobsplus: household employers. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
15. S.L. 452.126. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
16. Social Security: employer-share exemption for employers of a carer, page updated 18 Mar 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
17. Identità: single permit, page updated 27 Aug 2025. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
18. Identità: non-EU employment FAQ, page updated 13 Oct 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
19. Jobsplus: employment forms. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
20. AACC: Skema Carer at Home, page updated 6 Jan 2026. Checked 20 Oct 2026.
21. Identità: EU nationals, page updated 16 Jul 2025. Checked 20 Oct 2026.