Support at Home Level 8: how many hours does it buy?
- Everyday help hours a week
- 9 to 14.5
- Care management cap
- 10%
At published full-service weekday rates, after care management.
The most a provider can allocate to managing the package.
A Level 8 Support at Home package is $20,034 a quarter (about $80,137 a year), indexed 1 July 2026. A Level 8 package buys roughly 9 to 14.5 hours a week of everyday help, or 6 to 10.5 of nursing and clinical care, or 4.5 to 8.5 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.
Every figure on this page checked 26 July 2026, next check due 20 September 2026.
The range is not a rounding error. It comes from three very differently priced things a package can buy: everyday help, nursing and clinical care, and allied health. Who is charging matters just as much, because published rates for the same service sit a long way apart.
What this looks like in a week
At a typical published rate, a Level 8 budget covers about 11.5 hours a week of everyday help. The published range is 9 to 14.5 hours a week. Providers charge genuinely different amounts for the same service, so the same budget buys different amounts of care depending on who you choose. You can see how far apart their rates sit.
With the full 10% allocation set aside, a Level 8 budget comes to about $1,386.99 a week to spend on services. That is the figure every week below is set against, and it is the cautious end of it: 10% is a cap, so a provider that allocates less leaves more.
Read all of that as a typical price, not a typical week. Nothing published ties a funding level to a set list of services, or to a number of visits. How the hours get arranged is worked out in the , not decided by the level.
These are weeks that families ask us to price. Nothing published says a level should contain any of them. Each one is costed at published provider rates and then set against what this budget covers, so you can see where the week you have in mind lands.
Personal care twice a day, a weekly nurse and a clean
- Hours a week
- 10
- What it costs
- $1,272 a week$1,028 to $1,441 across providers
- Against a Level 8 budget
- Just inside this budget, about $115 a week spare
A full hour morning and evening, every day
- Hours a week
- 14
- What it costs
- $1,694 a week$1,358 to $1,890 across providers
- Against a Level 8 budget
- About $307 a week more than this budget covers
Six hours of cover every weekday
- Hours a week
- 30
- What it costs
- $3,630 a week$2,910 to $4,050 across providers
- Against a Level 8 budget
- About $2,243 a week more than this budget covers
| A week like this | Hours a week | What it costs | Against a Level 8 budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care twice a day, a weekly nurse and a clean | 10 | $1,272 a week$1,028 to $1,441 across providers | Just inside this budget, about $115 a week spare |
| A full hour morning and evening, every day | 14 | $1,694 a week$1,358 to $1,890 across providers | About $307 a week more than this budget covers |
| Six hours of cover every weekday | 30 | $3,630 a week$2,910 to $4,050 across providers | About $2,243 a week more than this budget covers |
Costed at the weekday rates published by the providers on our provider comparison page: the middle figure is the median published rate, the range under it is the cheapest and the dearest. Budgets from the Department of Health. Arithmetic on published numbers, not a quote. Care management cap: Support at Home Program Manual v4.2, section 8.9 (care management account). Verified 24 July 2026.
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.
What would you pay out of pocket at Level 8?
A Support at Home is a percentage of what gets spent, and the percentage is set by income and by the kind of service, never by the level. So a bigger budget spent in full means more dollars at the same rate. At Level 8, on a budget spent 90% on everyday help and 10% on nursing and clinical care, a full pensioner would pay roughly $3,246 to $11,359 a year and a self funded retiree roughly $32,456 to $51,929.
This is money invoiced on top. It does not come out of the budget, and it does not reduce the hours the budget buys.
Full pensioner
- Per quarter
- $811 to $2,840
- Per year
- $3,246 to $11,359
Part pensioner or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder
- Per quarter
- $811 to $12,982
- Per year
- $3,246 to $51,929
Self-funded
- Per quarter
- $8,114 to $12,982
- Per year
- $32,456 to $51,929
| Income band | Per quarter | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Full pensioner | $811 to $2,840 | $3,246 to $11,359 |
| Part pensioner or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder | $811 to $12,982 | $3,246 to $51,929 |
| Self-funded | $8,114 to $12,982 | $32,456 to $51,929 |
Contribution rates from the Support at Home program manual, version 4.2 (December 2025), section 9. Budget from the Department of Health. Verified 26 July 2026.
These figures assume the same mix at every level. Nine tenths of the budget goes to everyday help and one tenth to nursing and clinical care, after the care management allocation is set aside. The mix is an assumption, not an entitlement, and nothing published ties a level to a mix. It is held identical across all eight levels on purpose, so the only reason the numbers differ from level to level is the size of the budget.
Why the hourly rate is not in this
A contribution is a percentage of what gets spent, and the spend here is a share of the budget. So what a provider charges an hour cancels out of the arithmetic entirely. That is why these figures carry no "at published rates" hedge, unlike the week costs above.
Care management is free, at every level
Care management is left out of the working. It sits in the clinical supports category, where the contribution rate is nil in every income band, so putting it back would not change the figure.
Every row is a span rather than one number. Everyday help covers two categories charged at different rates, independence services and everyday living services, and which of the two an hour falls into depends on what was delivered. The part pension figure is a range because two separate things are unknown at once. Which category the spending fell into, and where an income sits on the sliding scale between the two rates. The bottom of the range is the rate a full pensioner pays. The top is the rate a self funded retiree pays. Nothing published says where inside that span a particular income lands.
One thing to check before you use any of these figures. If the first approval for a package was on or before 12 September 2024, the grandfathered rates apply instead, and they are much lower.
Contribution rates by income band, including the grandfathered ones →What is different about a Level 8 budget
Every rule below applies at every level. What each one comes to in dollars does not, and these are the figures they produce at Level 8.
Unspent money carries over, up to $2,003.43
carries over into the next quarter, but only up to a cap. The cap is the higher of $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget. At Level 8 that 10% comes to $2,003.43, so the cap is $2,003.43.
From Level 5 up the percentage arm of the rule wins, so a bigger budget carries more than a smaller one.
Support at Home program manual, version 4.2, section 9.7.1.
What an empty quarter costs at Level 8
Services can be paused for a hospital stay, transition care, residential respite or personal reasons, and the quarterly budget keeps being credited while they are. But only the carryover cap survives into the next quarter.
At Level 8 that means a quarter with nothing delivered costs about $18,031: $20,034 arrives, $2,003.43 carries, and the rest goes back.
Support at Home program manual, version 4.2, section 12.2.
A letter can show less than this
If a letter names a smaller figure than the published Level 8 budget, that is probably , which the department also calls the minimum service offer. It is 60% of the classification total, so about $12,021 a quarter instead of $20,034.
This is not something Level 8 does, and no level is exempt from it. It applies when demand for Support at Home is running ahead of what can be allocated in full.
Services start on it, and the remaining 40% is allocated when funding becomes available and confirmed by a second letter. Full funding goes out straight away to anyone in the urgent priority category, or approved for the restorative or end of life pathways.
Support at Home program manual, version 4.2, section 6.8.1.
About 34% more than Level 7
Level 7 is about $59,660 a year and Level 8 about $80,137. The scale is not evenly spaced, so the size of a step is worth checking before deciding a reassessment is worth asking for.
At a typical published rate that difference comes to about 3 hours a week more of everyday help. That figure is worked out from the budget and published provider rates, because no government figure exists.
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 VeraFree. Private. No account needed.
How your level was decided
Your level is not chosen from a description of what someone can or cannot do. It is worked out from three things the assessor scores, and the law sets the exact combination that produces each level.
The three are a , a , and a yes or no on . Here they are in the law's words and then in plain ones.
Home support functional independence score
How much the person being assessed can manage on their own day to day, scored by the assessor.
Home support needs met score
How much of what they need is already being covered, including by family and by help they already receive.
Significant compounding factors
A yes or no on whether other things are making the situation harder, such as living alone or a carer who is struggling.
Why this level and not another
Level 8 is the only level with a single way in. Every other level has two. All three of the things above have to be true at once.
- The lowest score for how much the person being assessed can manage on their own.
- The lowest score for how much of what they need is already covered.
- Other things making the situation harder, written down by the assessor.
There is no route to Level 8 without that last one.
What changed from Level 7
Level 8 is the only level in the table with a single route in. Every other level has two. It needs the lowest band on both scores and a significant compounding factors finding, all at once. It is also where the ladder stops. At every other level a compounding factors finding lifts the classification one step, and at Level 8 there is no step above it to lift into.
Worth checking
One missing note is worth a whole level
Take the same two scores. With other things making it harder, they give Level 8. Without, they give Level 7. That holds at every step of the scale, with no exceptions.
So the written record matters as much as the need. If nobody wrote down what makes the situation harder, the level lands one step lower. That is not a judgement call. It is what the law's table does.
Things like living alone, or a carer who is struggling, count here. If that is true in your situation and it was never written down, that is a concrete reason to ask for a new assessment.
The assessment counts the help you already give
Here is the part families are almost never told. What is already being done for the person being assessed goes into the score, and that includes what the family does.
Take two people who manage day to day about equally well. The one with more of their needs already covered is classified lower. The law's table works that way at every level.
This is not a reason to do less. It is a reason to make sure the assessor hears all of it. What is not covered. What only happens because someone in the family does it. And what goes wrong on the bad days.
This is why a level is not something to argue about with a provider. A provider can't change it, because a provider didn't set it. The came out of those three scores, so the way to move it is a new . How long the change then takes depends on the priority category the assessor records.
How priority categories decide the wait →There is one thing we still can't tell you, and nor can anyone else. The exact wording of the criteria is below. It says which scores produce which level. It does not say what those scores mean in daily life, and nobody publishes that link. No government document says what a Level 8 package is meant to buy, or how many hours it should come to. So a page that gives you one figure for the hours a level buys, and calls it a fact, is guessing. The hours on this page are worked out from the budget and published provider rates, and the calculator shows that working.
The exact wording in the Rules
This is what the law sets out for Level 8. The numbers are assessment scores. They are not hours, and not dollars.
The only way in
- Home support functional independence score
- 0-24
- Home support needs met score
- 0-22
- Significant compounding factors
- Yes
Set out in Aged Care Rules 2025, section 81-10 (Compilation No. 8), at s 81-10(1) item 9, p 134. Volume 1, Chapter 2, Part 3, Division 3, Subdivision B, s 81-10, table at pp 132-134. Compilation date 1 July 2026, registered 21 July 2026. Verified 2026-07-25.
Level 8 against the other levels
| 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 |
Self-managed is weekday personal care at platform rates. Published full-service is the range across the providers compared on this page. Both are after 10% care management, over 52 weeks. A baseline for comparison, not a quote.
Common questions
What is Level 8 Support at Home?
Level 8 is the highest ongoing funding level under Support at Home: $20,034 a quarter, about $80,137 a year, indexed 1 July 2026. That is more than the old Level 4 Home Care Package, and at published full-service rates it comes to roughly 9 to 14.5 hours a week of everyday help.
Level 8 is the highest. What if it still is not enough?
The department knows this happens and publishes what to consider, which is itself the answer to whether anything higher exists. Nothing does. The manual lists reviewing the care plan to reprioritise, including reducing higher cost services such as weekend support. Looking at informal support from family, friends or volunteers. Short term supports and any Home Care Package unspent funds. Buying additional care privately if that is manageable. Commonwealth Home Support Programme respite and residential respite. Moving to a different home such as a serviced apartment. And, in the end, whether living independently is still sustainable.
Can we get extra help on top of a Level 8 budget in an emergency?
Yes, on a short term basis. Where there is an urgent and immediate health or safety need and the individualised budget is already fully allocated, some Commonwealth Home Support Programme services can be accessed as well. The manual defines fully allocated carefully: it means all the funding is planned for, even if it has not been spent yet. These arrangements must be time limited and reviewed, and the guide is up to about two months.
Why does Level 8 have only one way in?
Because it is the end of the table. Every level from 1 to 7 can be reached two ways, one with a compounding factors finding and one without. Level 8 needs the lowest band on both scores and the compounding factors finding together. There is no version of Level 8 without that finding, because the route that would produce it is Level 7.
Is there a ceiling on what we pay in contributions?
Yes, and at Level 8 you reach it faster than anyone. The on participant contributions is $137,917.01, or $86,185.23 for people covered by the grandfathered arrangements. Once it is reached you pay no further individual contributions, and Services Australia notifies both you and your provider. The cap follows you into residential aged care for the non-clinical part of that contribution. It is indexed twice a year, on 20 March and 20 September.
Can two people in the same house both hold Level 8?
Yes. A classification and its budget belong to a person, not a household. Each person is assessed separately, and each budget sits in a separate held by Services Australia. Two people in one house can hold different classifications, or the same one, and neither budget can be spent on the other person.
Where to go next
- What is the Support at Home program? The whole map: levels, budgets, what a package pays for, and what to check first.
- Compare providers See how far apart published rates sit, and what that does to the hours a budget buys.
- Contribution rates What you pay on top of the package, by income band and service category.
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 VeraFree. Private. No account needed.