Support at Home, explained

What is the Support at Home program?

Support at Home is the Australian Government's program to help older people stay independent, healthy and living at home for longer.

At a glance

Funding levels: 1 to 8
Yearly budget: $11,010 to $80,137
Nursing, allied health: $0
Other services, your share: 5% to 80%
Care management fee: capped at 10%
Hourly price caps: Not yet in place

Support at Home is the Australian Government's aged care program for help at home. It replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025. After an assessment through My Aged Care, a person is given one of eight funding levels. The levels run from $11,010 to $80,137 a year, indexed 1 July 2026. The budget pays a provider to deliver approved services, such as personal care, nursing, cleaning and home modifications.

Every figure on this page checked 26 July 2026.

Because the letters, the levels and the budgets are all written in language for administrators, not for the person trying to organise care before Thursday, for someone they love or for themselves. The system is harder to follow than it needs to be, and nobody sits down and explains it. That is the system's fault, not yours. So here it is in order: what Support at Home is, what it pays for, and what to check first.

Start here

Most people arrive here in the middle of one of these four situations. Pick the closest one and skip the rest.

What is Support at Home?

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme () is the entry level of aged care at home: a bit of cleaning, some transport, a few hours here and there. It is built for low and steady needs. is what comes next. It started on 1 November 2025 and replaced . It works on : an assessment decides how much support a person needs. That becomes one of eight funding levels, each with a budget attached. A registered then delivers services against that budget.

Who is Support at Home for?

Support at Home is for older people who need ongoing help to keep living at home. That generally means people aged 65 or over, or 50 or over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Everything starts with on 1800 200 422. You register, and an assessor visits. The assessment then sets two things at once: the funding level, and which services from the list are approved.

You may have been told to book an assessment. That team was folded into a single national assessment system in December 2024, so the letters and the assessor now use different words for the same visit. And if needs are still light, the assessment may point to CHSP rather than a Support at Home package.

What ACAT is called now What CHSP covers, and how it differs

The 8 Support at Home levels

Budgets are the indexed amounts effective 1 July 2026, taken from the Department of Health's published classifications.

Level 1

Quarterly budget: $2,753
Annual budget: $11,010
Scale

Level 2

Quarterly budget: $4,113
Annual budget: $16,451
Scale

Level 3

Quarterly budget: $5,634
Annual budget: $22,537
Scale

Level 4

Quarterly budget: $7,617
Annual budget: $30,469
Scale

Level 5

Quarterly budget: $10,182
Annual budget: $40,730
Scale

Level 6

Quarterly budget: $12,341
Annual budget: $49,365
Scale

Level 7

Quarterly budget: $14,915
Annual budget: $59,660
Scale

Level 8

Quarterly budget: $20,034
Annual budget: $80,137
Scale

The 8 Support at Home levels and their quarterly and annual budgets
Level	Quarterly budget	Annual budget
Level 1	$2,753	$11,010
Level 2	$4,113	$16,451
Level 3	$5,634	$22,537
Level 4	$7,617	$30,469
Level 5	$10,182	$40,730
Level 6	$12,341	$49,365
Level 7	$14,915	$59,660
Level 8	$20,034	$80,137

Sources: Department of Health, Funding classifications for Support at Home · Support at Home program classifications and budgets (PDF). Verified 22 July 2026.

Choose a level to see what it buys in a week, and how it was decided.

See all 8 levels side by side See how many hours each level actually buys

How does the money actually work?

The budget is not money paid to the family, and it never sits in anyone's bank account. It comes as a : a capped amount held for the person receiving care, which their provider invoices against as services are delivered. What you control is what the budget buys: which services, at what hourly rates, from which provider. The budget is fixed, so the rate decides the hours. That is why provider rates are worth comparing before you sign anything.

On top of the budget, most people also pay a towards each service they use. It is : Services Australia looks at income and assets and sets the share. Clinical supports, meaning nursing and allied health, are free for everyone. Independence services run from 5% to 50% of the service price, and everyday living services from 17.5% to 80%. This is invoiced separately, so it never reduces the budget or the hours the budget buys. People who were already in the old system on or before 12 September 2024 are covered by a protection that sets lower rates again.

is capped at 10% of the budget. Price caps on service rates are deferred (as of May 2026). That means no legal limit applies to hourly rates today, so comparing published rates is the real protection. See what you contribute .

Contribution rates and the care management cap: Support at Home Program Manual v4.2, sections 9.4 and 8.9. Verified 22 July 2026.

What can Support at Home pay for?

Everything a package can pay for sits in one of three categories. Approvals are itemised. A person is approved for specific services from , not for the whole list. The approved set is written in their .

Clinical supports

Nursing, allied health and other clinical services delivered by qualified professionals.

Independence

Services that help someone stay independent, mobile and connected to their community.

Everyday living

Everyday home-based support, from domestic help to home maintenance and meals.

See the full service list, including what's excluded

Working out what any of this actually means for you?

Tell Vera what's happening at home and where things stand with My Aged Care. You'll come away with a plan for the next fortnight, in plain English.

Talk it through with Vera

Free. Private. No account needed.

What happens after you're approved?

Being approved for a level and having the money released to spend are two different steps. The letter tells you the first step is done. Between that letter and help arriving, the funding still has to be from the . For most , that wait runs to months, not weeks. So build one habit. Every time a My Aged Care letter arrives, read it properly, or ask someone to explain it. A few facts inside decide what happens next, and three of them are worth checking every single time.

Read the full wait-times breakdown What you can do while you wait

Three things worth checking every time

Approved and funded are two separate steps

Being approved means the assessment is finished and a funding level has been decided. Nothing is paid for until that funding is released from the national priority queue and a provider actually starts. The wait sits between those two steps.

The opt-out check

My Aged Care records whether an approval is opted in to the national priority queue. An opted-out approval simply sits there. At least one family we have helped found their parent recorded as opted out, and nobody in the family knew. Check the opt-in status on the record before you assume the queue is moving.

Supplements, in dollars

Supports that sat on top of an old Home Care Package, most often the dementia supplement, may be treated differently under a new classification. Ask for that treatment in dollars, in writing, before you agree to anything.

Words to have ready

Say these exactly as written, to My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 or to the provider. Swap in the name of the person the care is for.

The opt-in check

"Can you confirm [name] is opted in to the national priority system, what priority category they are in, and the expected release timeframe?"

The grandfathering question

If the package moved across from a Home Care Package.

"Please confirm, in dollars, the current annual value of [name]'s grandfathered arrangement versus the proposed new classification, including all supplements."

You're allowed to ask money questions this bluntly. It's what the system expects of people who know how it works, and now that's you.

Transitioned from a Home Care Package?

A Home Care Package held when Support at Home began moved across at an equivalent funding level. That level is called a . Any in the package carried over in full. Each page below shows what that level is worth now, the hours a week it buys, and the transition traps worth checking.

Transitioned budgets are the indexed amounts effective 1 July 2026, verified 22 July 2026 against the same Department of Health classification schedule as the table above.

Tools to work it out

Hours calculator See how many hours of care a Support at Home package actually buys, for all 8 levels, at published provider rates. You can upload a My Aged Care letter and let it read the level and budget for you.All 8 levels, side by side Every level's quarterly and annual budget in one comparison, so you can see where a level sits against the ones either side of it.The words on the letter, explained Plain-English meanings for the terms that turn up in My Aged Care letters and provider invoices.CHSP, and how it differs What the Commonwealth Home Support Programme covers, who it suits, and how it relates to a Support at Home package.

Have a letter in front of you and nothing else? Ring My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and use the words in the section above. The same checks work by phone.

One human thing

One family we helped were moving a parent from an older high-level package across to the new system. The thing worrying them most was a supplement they had heard would disappear. Instead of arguing about it, they asked for the numbers in writing. What was the current arrangement worth? What would the proposed new classification be worth, supplements included? The answer arrived before anything was signed. The decision got made on numbers instead of rumours.

You don't have to become fluent in this system. You stay the daughter, the son, the husband or wife, or the one sorting it out for yourself; decoding it is our job.

Common questions

How do you qualify for the support at home program?

You qualify through an aged care assessment arranged by My Aged Care. It is generally for people aged 65 or over who need help to keep living at home. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that age is 50 or over. Call 1800 200 422 or apply online, and an assessor then recommends a funding level.

What is support at home now called?

It is still called Support at Home. The confusion usually runs the other way. Support at Home is itself the new name, and it replaced Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care from 1 November 2025. A Home Care Package held before that date transitioned into Support at Home at an equivalent funding level.

What does a home care package pay for?

Under Support at Home, a package pays for services in three categories. Clinical supports covers nursing and allied health. Independence covers personal care, respite, transport, equipment and home modifications. Everyday living covers cleaning, home maintenance and meals. Approvals are itemised, so a package only pays for the services written into that person's support plan.

Where to go next

Working out what any of this actually means for you?

Tell Vera what's happening at home and where things stand with My Aged Care. You'll come away with a plan for the next fortnight, in plain English.

Talk it through with Vera

Free. Private. No account needed.