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Support at Home
On 1 November 2025, the Australian Government replaced the old Home Care Packages with a new program called Support at Home. If you’re hearing about this for the first time, don’t worry — here’s what it means in plain English.
What is Support at Home?
Support at Home is the government-funded program that helps older Australians receive care in their own home, rather than moving into an aged care home. It pays for things like help with cleaning, personal care, nursing visits, physiotherapy, meal preparation, and more.
If you or a loved one needs help to keep living independently at home, this is probably the program you’ll use.
What changed from the old system?
🔴 Old system (before Nov 2025)
Called “Home Care Packages”
4 levels of funding
Annual budgets
Long waiting lists
Up to 25% taken in admin fees
🟢 New system (Support at Home)
Called “Support at Home”
8 levels of funding — better matched to your needs
Quarterly budgets (paid every 3 months)
New assessment process
Care management capped at 10%
The key numbers
8Funding levels
$11k–$78kAnnual funding range
10%Max care management fee
QuarterlyBudget paid every 3 months
The 8 funding levels
Your level (called a “classification”) is set at assessment based on care needs, not income. Tap any level to see what it looks like in practice.
Your annual funding is split into four quarterly payments. So if you’re on Classification 4 (about $30,000/year), you’d receive roughly $7,500 each quarter to spend on approved services.
From each quarterly payment, up to 10% goes to your provider for “care management” — that’s the coordination, planning, and admin of your services. The remaining 90% is yours to spend on care.
💡 Unspent money: If you don’t use your full budget in a quarter, you can carry over up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget (whichever is greater) into the next quarter. This gives you some flexibility for larger purchases like mobility aids or home modifications.
What can you spend it on?
Support at Home funding covers three categories of services:
Clinical care — nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, podiatry, and other health services. You don’t pay any personal contribution for clinical care, regardless of your income.
Independence services — personal care (help with showering, dressing), assistive technology, home modifications, transport to appointments, and social support.
Everyday living — cleaning, gardening, laundry, meal preparation, and shopping. These attract higher personal contributions because they’re considered less clinical in nature.
💡 Good to know: From 1 July 2026, the government will introduce price caps on services. This means providers can’t charge above a set maximum for each type of service. Until then, providers set their own prices — so it’s worth comparing.
If you were receiving a Home Care Package before 1 November 2025, you’ve been automatically moved to Support at Home at an equivalent funding level. You didn’t need a new assessment.
Your unspent Home Care Package funds came with you and can be used under the new program for assistive technology, home modifications, and extra services once you’ve used your quarterly budget.
If you were assessed before 12 September 2024, the “no worse off” principle applies — meaning you won’t pay more under the new system than you would have under the old one.
How do I get Support at Home?
The process starts the same way as all aged care — through My Aged Care. If you haven’t started yet, our Start Here guide walks you through it step by step.
In short: call 1800 200 422 or apply online, have an assessment, receive your classification, then choose a provider and start receiving services.
What about CHSP?
The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) is a separate, more basic program that currently runs alongside Support at Home. It provides entry-level services like occasional cleaning or transport.
CHSP will eventually merge into Support at Home, but not until at least 1 July 2027. If you’re currently receiving CHSP services, nothing changes for you right now.