Support at Home Program Changes for existing customers

Key changes under the new program from 1 July 2025
will include:

• New classification and budget levels: Eight levels of ongoing support, with funding up to $78,000 per year, plus two short-term pathways.
• Introduction of price caps on services in the new Support at Home program from 1 July 2026. From 1 July 2025, in-home aged care providers will continue to set their own prices for Support at Home services.
• Quarterly budgets: Annual budgets will be divided into four quarterly budgets.
• Upfront Supports: Includes allied health, assistive technology, and home modifications.
• A defined service list that provides clarity on what’s available under the program.
• Capped Care management: 10% of your quarterly budget will be pooled for Australian Unity to deliver care management.

As an existing Home Care Package recipient your health and care services will continue to be delivered under the Support at Home Program and you won’t need to be reassessed into one of the new classification levels when the new program starts.

Under the new program, you will receive a Support at Home budget that matches the same funding level as your HCP as at 30 June 2025. But your annual budget will be divided into 4 equal budgets that each cover 3 months of the year. 

Your final quarterly budget amount will be confirmed before the start of the new program. It’s important to note that unlike the current HCP program where you can accumulate unspent funds and rollover your HCP annual budget, when you transition to the Support at Home program, you will only be able to carry over unspent funds from your Support at Home budget each quarter of up to $1,000 or 10% of the budget (whichever is greater). The more expensive items that you have previously had to save for over time, like home modifications, will now be covered under a separate budget.

If you have Commonwealth unspent funds today, you will keep these funds for use under the Support at Home program. These amounts will not be subject to quarterly roll over limits.

If you currently pay an income tested care fee, it’s important to know how the changes will affect your payments. The “no worse off principle” will apply to contribution arrangements. If the “no worse off principle” for contribution arrangements applies to you, you will still be required to pay a contribution, but this will be at an individualised discounted rate to ensure that you do not pay more than you currently do under the HCP Program. If you do not pay an income tested care fee now, you won’t be required to pay a contribution under the new system. This ensures that participants in the aged care system when the new Aged Care Act was first introduced into Parliament are not financially disadvantaged by the transition to Support at Home.

The Support at Home classification framework improves on the current 4 Home Care Package levels, with:
• 8 ongoing Support at Home funding classifications
• 2 short-term care pathways (Restorative Care Pathway and End-of-Life Pathway)
• upfront funding for the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme, with 3 AT-HM Scheme funding tiers.
If your current HCP is meeting your care needs, you do not need to be reassessed. However, if your
needs have changed, please get in touch and we can organise a review of your Health plan/Care plan and refer you to be reassessed into a new Support at Home classification with a higher budget.

Support at Home will introduce the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme, which gives customers access to assistive technology and home modifications without needing to save funds from their individual budgets. You can also use any unspent funds you have accrued towards the cost of assistive technology and home modifications. We will happily assist you to access this scheme when it becomes available.

You will continue to be supported by a Care Partner/ Service Coordinator under Support at Home. A Care Partner/Service Coordinator will partner with you to help you get the best outcomes possible so that you can live safely and independently at home.

If you have some spare funds in your budget, or if you’re not in the habit of using your budget in full each quarter, you might like to talk to us know about ways to use your budget to make it work harder for you. Home Care Packages aren’t just for cleaning and personal care and our expert team can support you to access other services such as; physiotherapy or remedial massage, counselling and mental health support, or social support and companionship services.

We are committed to keeping you informed and providing regular updates so that you feel confident about the transition to the new program. In the meantime, you can learn more by visiting Department of Health and Aged Care Website.