News
22 April 2025
Support at Home Program – your questions answered
The Support at Home Program is officially on its way. So, what does that mean if you already use home care services?
Essentially, it depends on several factors including whether you already receive – or have been assessed as eligible for – a Federal Government Home Care Package, your income and assets, and the type of services you require.
With the Government recently passing its long-awaited Aged Care Bill, the Support at Home Program will replace Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care programs from July 1, 2025.
The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) will continue until 30 June 2027, allowing individuals to be assessed for either a Support at Home or Commonwealth Home Support Program. A key change is that there will be a single assessment process, replacing the two assessments currently required.
The good news is older Australians should be able to access in-home support more quickly, with the first two years of the Support at Home program including additional funding to bring down home care package waitlists to an average of three months by July 2027. This is great news if your care needs change and you need additional support.
And regardless of your means, you won’t need to pay for clinical care such as nursing and physiotherapy as this will be fully government funded.
However, you may need to contribute more towards assessed services, particularly domestic assistance and gardening.
Following the passing of these sweeping reforms and confirmation of the Support at Home Care Program start date, the Home Instead team has been fielding questions about how the new initiative will impact current participants of the Home Care Packages Program. Here are some of the most common queries:
Will I have to pay more for services?
The government has introduced a ‘no worse off principle’ to ensure you won’t pay more as you transition from the Home Care Packages Program to the Support at Home Program on July 1, 2025.
This principle applies if you are currently receiving a Home Care Package, are on the National Priority System or have been assessed as eligible for a package on or prior to September 12, 2024.
Essentially, all participants will be no worse off under the changes as they will make the same contributions for home care services, or lower, than they would have under the Home Care Packages Program.
If you’ve been receiving a Home Care Package and haven’t been paying an income-tested care fee, you won’t be required to make contributions under the Support at Home program. If you have been paying an income-tested care fee, you will move into Support at Home with discounted contribution arrangements.
Under the Support at Home Program, you will have to make greater contributions to the cost of personal care and everyday living services such as gardening, cleaning and meals. However, the Support at Home Program will cover the cost of clinical care including nursing and physiotherapy. Ultimately, what you are required to pay will depend on the type of service you are using as well as your income and assets. The Aged Pension means test determines an individual’s percentage contribution, and those with a Commonwealth Seniors Card will pay lower contributions than other self-funded retirees.
There is a $130,000 lifetime cap on contributions to safeguard those who receive care for an extended period.
What participants will contribute to services under the Support at Home Program as of July 1, 2025:
| Clinical supports | Personal care / independence services | Everyday living services (eg. Cleaning, meals and gardening) | |
| Full pensioner | 0% | 5% | 17.5% |
| Part pensioner | 0% | 5-50% (amount to be determined by an assessment of income and assets) | 17.5%-80% (amount to be determined by an assessment of income and assets) |
| Self-funded retiree (with or eligible for a Commonweath Seniors Health Card | 0% | 5-50% (amount to be determined by an assessment of income and assets) | 17.5%-80% (amount to be determined by an assessment of income and assets) |
| Self-funded retiree (not eligible for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card | 0% | 50% | 80% |
What about my unspent funds? Do I lose them?
No, you won’t lose any unspent funds. You will retain access to your unspent Home Care Package funds. You can use these funds until they are fully depleted. They won’t be forfeited during reassessment and aren’t subject to time limits. You can use these funds for either the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme – where unspent funds must be used before accessing new AT-HM Scheme funding – or for additional ongoing services once your quarterly budget has been exhausted.
How many levels of packages are there?
The Support at Home Program has eight ongoing classifications for care recipients as well as two short-term classifications – the ‘Restorative Care Pathway’ and ‘End-of-life Care Pathway. This is a significant change from the Home Care Packages system, which has four classification categories.
The indicative budget amounts for each ongoing classification in the Support at Home Program are:
| Classification | Quarterly budget | Annual amount |
| 1 | $2750 | $11,000 |
| 2 | $4000 | $16,000 |
| 3 | $5500 | $22,000 |
| 4 | $7500 | $30,000 |
| 5 | $10,000 | $40,000 |
| 6 | $12,000 | $48,000 |
| 7 | $14,500 | $58,000 |
| 8 | $19,500 | $78,000 |
Under this new system, you will work with your providers to choose how to spend your budget for the services you’ve been approved for. You can also save up to $1000 or 10% of their quarterly budget (whichever is greater).
Through the Restorative Care Pathway, you can receive additional support to remain independent at home for longer. The End-of-life Pathway classification can be accessed if you have less than three months to live and wish to stay at home, with up to $25,000 funding for additional home care services for as long as 12 weeks.
I already have a Home Care package. Will I need to be reassessed?
If you already have a Home Care Package, or have been approved for one, you won’t be reassessed. Instead of being assessed into one of the eight Support at Home classifications, you will be allocated a budget that aligns to your Home Care Package Program level or the one you’ve been approved for.
However, if you find yourself in need of a greater level of care, you will need to be reassessed for a Support at Home classification so you can receive a higher budget.
Importantly, the government is simplifying aged care assessments by establishing a Single Assessment system which will make it quicker to access services. It’s a welcome change from the current system where people are assessed separately for Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Program, which can be quite cumbersome.
I want to self-manage my Support at Home package, but it looks like I’ll have to pay a 10% care management fee. Is this correct?
Under the new Support at Home Program, 10% of each care recipient’s quarterly budget will be put aside for care management delivered by their service provider.
This means you will have to pay a flat 10% fee, regardless of whether you self-manage or not. This fee covers planning and coordination of services, regular check-ins, clinical advice and practical support to ensure clients’ needs are being met.
The fees paid by participants are pooled with their provider, ensuring everyone can receive varying levels of care management as their needs change over time.
Although everyone will pay a 10% care management fee from July 1, 2025, you may still choose to self-manage so you can have control over how your services are delivered.
