How many hours of care does a Support at Home package buy?

A Level 4 package buys roughly 3.5 to 5.5 hours a week of everyday help, or 2.5 to 4 of nursing and clinical care, or 1.5 to 3 of allied health. Or any mix, from one budget. At published full-service weekday rates, after the standard 10% care management fee. Not a quote.

How much can a provider charge for care management under Support at Home?

Care management is capped at 10% of the package budget under the Support at Home program. Ask your provider to confirm their percentage in writing.

Can I get more hours from the same budget with a self-managed or platform provider?

Self-managed platforms such as Mable often list materially lower hourly rates than a full-service provider, so the same budget can stretch further in raw hours. The trade-off is that you take on more of the coordination and admin yourself, finding and managing carers directly rather than a provider doing it for you. The rules for self-managed arrangements under Support at Home are still settling, so it is worth checking the detail with your provider or My Aged Care. It is not a like-for-like comparison with a full-service provider, it is a different kind of arrangement altogether.

How much will I pay out of pocket for Support at Home services?

It depends on your means-tested contribution band and which service category you're using. Clinical services (nursing, allied health) carry no contribution at any income level. Independence and everyday-living services are means-tested: full pensioners pay a fixed 5% or 17.5% of the service cost depending on the category; self-funded retirees pay 50% or 80%; part pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders pay somewhere in between, and the government's official fee estimator gives the exact figure. A separate lifetime cap applies to how much you can be asked to contribute in total.

Support at Home hours calculator: what every level actually buys

Ongoing levels: 8
Published rate range: $95–$135 an hour
Providers tracked: 17
Care management cap: 10% of the budget

The government's fee estimator tells you what you will contribute. It does not tell you what the package buys. The same budget can buy very different amounts of care depending on who is charging and how visits are booked. And it rarely buys just one thing: everyday help, nursing and clinical care, and allied health are each priced differently, so most families end up mixing them. Put your numbers in below and adjust the mix to match your own plan.

Every figure on this page checked 22 July 2026.

Your package

Level 5·$10,182 a quarter

about $40,730 a year

Confused? Let your letter do the talking.

Upload the My Aged Care letter or a photo of it, and Vera reads it and tells you the level and what it means.

Used once to read your level, then discarded straight away. We never store it or log what's in it.

A Level 5 package buys roughly

4.5 to 7.5 hours a week of everyday help
3 to 5.5 hours a week of nursing and clinical care
2.5 to 4.5 hours a week of allied health

Or any mix, from one budget.

At published full-service weekday rates, after the standard 10% care management fee. Not a quote. Care management cap: Support at Home Program Manual v4.2, section 8.9 (care management account).

Which rate should we use?

Shown against the published range across every provider we track. Pick your provider, or enter a rate you've been quoted, for a figure specific to you.

See how the big providers compare

An example week

Adjust it to match your plan

Available services depend on what is in your approved plan.

Everyday help

Personal care, domestic help, social support, respite, nursing assistants

5.0hours a week

This week

5.0hours a week

a weekday morning, plus a bit more

Nursing and clinical care

Enrolled and registered nursing, allied health assistants

≈ one nurse visit a week

0.5hours a week

This week

0.5hours a week

about one short visit a week

Allied health professionals

Physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other allied health professionals

0.0hours a week

about $688 of $705 a week

This week is fully allocated.

This calculator is here to give you a feel for what a package can buy. It is an estimate built from providers' published prices, not advice or a quote. Rates and rules change, and your own agreement is what counts. Check the numbers with your provider or My Aged Care before you rely on them.

Evenings and weekends cost more

These figures are weekday daytime. Providers load: Evening about +3-25% · Saturday +21-51% · Sunday +44-76% · Public holidays +86-150%.

Allied health is mostly weekday-only.

Not getting the hours these numbers say you should?

Tell Vera what the package is and what it currently buys. You'll come away with a plan for getting more from the same budget, whether that's a conversation with the provider or a change.

Talk it through with Vera

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A few things worth knowing

Short visits usually cost more than a pro-rata slice of the minimum visit length.
Some providers blend Saturday and Sunday into one weekend rate rather than pricing them separately.
Overnight respite is often priced as a flat block, not an hourly rate.

Rate sources: Department of Health, Funding classifications for Support at Home · Support at Home program classifications and budgets (PDF) . Individual provider and tier rates carry their own verified dates alongside each figure above. Budgets verified against the Department of Health on 2026-07-22; budgets index every 1 July, rates re-verified each January and July.

All 8 levels at a glance

Budgets are the indexed amounts effective 1 July 2026, from the Department of Health.

Level	Annual budget	Hours a week, self-managed	Hours a week, published full-service
1	$11,010	~2.9	~1.4-2.0
2	$16,451	~4.3	~2.1-2.9
3	$22,537	~5.9	~2.9-4.0
4	$30,469	~8.0	~3.9-5.4
5	$40,730	~10.7	~5.2-7.3
6	$49,365	~13.0	~6.3-8.8
7	$59,660	~15.7	~7.6-10.6
8	$80,137	~21.1	~10.3-14.3

What providers actually charge

Not every publishes a price list, and among the ones that do, "cheapest" is not the same question as "trustworthy". A published rate is a rate you can hold a provider to. Here is what each one actually says, with a link to their own schedule for every figure.

HomeMade

Publishes full price list

$95an hour, weekdays

about 5.6 hours a week on a Level 4 package

GST unstated Source ↗

Verified 2026-07-24.

The CareSide

Publishes full price list

$97an hour, weekdays

about 5.4 hours a week on a Level 4 package

GST unstated Source ↗

Verified 2026-07-24.

Resthaven

Publishes full price list

$109an hour, weekdays

about 4.8 hours a week on a Level 4 package

GST unstated Source ↗

Schedule effective 1 November 2025. Verified 2026-07-24.

Uniting NSW.ACT

Publishes full price list

$110an hour, weekdays

about 4.8 hours a week on a Level 4 package

GST unstated Source ↗

Schedule effective 1 March 2026. Verified 2026-07-24.

Catholic Healthcare

Publishes full price list

$110an hour, weekdays

about 4.8 hours a week on a Level 4 package

GST unstated Source ↗

Schedule effective Effective 1 November 2025, current until 31 July 2026 (an August 2026 guide is already linked from their site). Verified 2026-07-24.

And the rest, published rate and all:

Five Good Friends

Weekday personal care: $110 an hour
GST: GST unstated
Effective date: Not stated
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

HammondCare

Weekday personal care: $113.40 an hour
GST: GST exclusive
Effective date: Correct as at 1 July 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Anglicare Southern Queensland

Weekday personal care: $120 an hour
GST: GST exclusive
Effective date: 1 July 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Home Instead

Weekday personal care: $122 an hour
GST: GST unstated
Effective date: 1 November 2025
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

BaptistCare

Weekday personal care: $123 an hour
GST: GST unstated
Effective date: 2026/27 price guide
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Bolton Clarke

Weekday personal care: $126 an hour
GST: GST exclusive
Effective date: 1 July 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Silver Chain

Weekday personal care: $129 an hour
GST: GST exclusive
Effective date: 1 November 2025
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Australian Unity

Weekday personal care: $130.20 an hour
GST: GST inclusive
Effective date: 1 July 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

myHomecarenow Australian Unity

Weekday personal care: $130.20 an hour
GST: GST inclusive
Effective date: 1 July 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

KinCarenow Silver Chain

Weekday personal care: $134 an hour
GST: GST exclusive
Effective date: 1 July 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Blue Care

Weekday personal care: $135 an hour
GST: GST exclusive
Effective date: 1 November 2025
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-22.

Mable

Weekday personal care: Does not publish a price list
GST: GST unstated
Effective date: Averages published for January to June 2026
Source: Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Support at Home provider published rates comparison
Provider	Weekday personal care	GST	Effective date	Source
Five Good Friends	$110 an hour	GST unstated	Not stated	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
HammondCare	$113.40 an hour	GST exclusive	Correct as at 1 July 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
Anglicare Southern Queensland	$120 an hour	GST exclusive	1 July 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
Home Instead	$122 an hour	GST unstated	1 November 2025	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
BaptistCare	$123 an hour	GST unstated	2026/27 price guide	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
Bolton Clarke	$126 an hour	GST exclusive	1 July 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
Silver Chain	$129 an hour	GST exclusive	1 November 2025	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
Australian Unity	$130.20 an hour	GST inclusive	1 July 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
myHomecarenow Australian Unity	$130.20 an hour	GST inclusive	1 July 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
KinCarenow Silver Chain	$134 an hour	GST exclusive	1 July 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.
Blue Care	$135 an hour	GST exclusive	1 November 2025	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-22.
Mable	Does not publish a price list	GST unstated	Averages published for January to June 2026	Provider schedule ↗ Verified 2026-07-24.

Australian Unity is a referral partner of Vera. Its rates appear here because it publishes them; every figure links to the provider's own published schedule.

Some providers publish GST-inclusive lists and some publish GST-exclusive lists, so small differences between rates are not meaningful on their own. Rates vary by state or region for some providers. Check the linked schedule for yours.

Transitioned from a Home Care Package?

If the person you care for held a when began in November 2025, they carry a transitioned funding level equivalent to their old package. Here is where each one sits.

Transitioned HCP Level 1

$2,818 a quarter (about $11,272 a year), between Levels 1 and 2

Transitioned HCP Level 2

$4,955 a quarter (about $19,822 a year), between Levels 2 and 3

Transitioned HCP Level 3

$10,787 a quarter (about $43,149 a year), between Levels 5 and 6

Transitioned HCP Level 4

$16,354 a quarter (about $65,416 a year), between Levels 7 and 8

The calculator above accepts transitioned levels too. Funds sitting unspent in the old Home Care Package carried over in full, with no cap. The new Support at Home quarterly budget runs on a different carryover rule: unspent quarterly funds roll forward only up to $1,000 or 10 per cent of the quarterly budget, whichever is higher.

Common questions

How many levels are there?

Support at Home has eight ongoing funding levels, up from four under Home Care Packages. Level 1 is about $11,010 a year and Level 8 about $80,137, indexed 1 July 2026. People who moved over from a Home Care Package keep a separate transitioned classification matching their old funding.

What is the highest home care package?

Under the old system it was a Level 4 Home Care Package. Under Support at Home the highest ongoing level is Level 8: $20,034 a quarter, about $80,137 a year, indexed 1 July 2026. At published full-service rates that buys roughly 9 to 14.5 hours a week of everyday help.

See Level 8 in detail

Where to go next

Not getting the hours these numbers say you should?

Tell Vera what the package is and what it currently buys. You'll come away with a plan for getting more from the same budget, whether that's a conversation with the provider or a change.

Talk it through with Vera

Free. Private. No account needed.