Government 100%
Full pensioner 0%
Free for everyone, whatever your pension status.
The government program
What is Support at Home?
Support at Home is how the Australian Government funds aged care delivered in your own home. It pays for most of the cost of the services that make daily life easier and safer, so staying at home stays realistic for longer.
It started on 1 November 2025 and replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme.
8
ongoing classifications
3
short-term pathways
10%
care management
0%
you pay for clinical care
The short version
How the money actually works
Four things decide what you get: what you are approved for, how much that is worth, what share of it you pay, and when the funding arrives.
-
1
An assessment sets your level
An aged care assessor, not a provider, decides which of the eight classifications you are approved for. That decision is what determines your funding.
-
2
Your level sets a quarterly budget
Each classification carries a fixed budget for every three months. It is a spending limit rather than money paid to you, and Services Australia manages it on your behalf.
-
3
You pay a share of each service
Your contribution depends on the type of service and on your pension status. Clinical care is free to everyone. The government pays the rest of the bill directly to the provider.
-
4
Equipment is funded separately
Assistive technology and home modifications have their own funding, so a wheelchair or a bathroom rail does not have to come out of the money you use for support workers.
What it covers
Three categories of service, three different costs
Every funded service falls into one of three categories, and the category is what sets your share of the price. It is the single most useful thing to understand about the program.
Government 95%
Full pensioner 5%
A full pensioner pays 5%. The government covers the rest. Part pensioner or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card 5–50%, self-funded 50%, assessed by Services Australia.
Government 82.5%
Full pensioner 17.5%
A full pensioner pays 17.5%. The government covers the rest. Part pensioner or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card 17.5–80%, self-funded 80%, assessed by Services Australia.
Changing on 1 October 2026
For services delivered from this date, personal care moves from the Independence category to Clinical supports. Where personal care is approved in your support plan and Support at Home funding is available, the Australian Government fully funds it.
This applies only to personal care delivered on or after 1 October 2026, only where personal care is approved in the person’s support plan, and only where Support at Home funding is available. Personal care delivered before that date is charged as normal and is not refunded.
Ongoing funding
The eight classifications
Your assessment places you on one of eight levels. Each carries a fixed quarterly budget, shown here so you can see the shape of the scale rather than just its endpoints.
Budget available every three months
Classification 1
$2,674.18
Classification 2
$3,995.42
Classification 3
$5,479.94
Classification 4
$7,386.33
Classification 5
$9,883.76
Classification 6
$11,989.35
Classification 7
$14,530.53
Classification 8
$19,427.25
What the budget is, and is not
- Your classification is set by your aged care assessment, not chosen by you or by us.
- The budget is a spending limit, not a payment. Money is not deposited anywhere for you.
- Care management is taken from the budget at 10%, leaving the rest for services.
- Up to $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, whichever is greater, can carry into the next quarter.
Four transitioned levels as well
People who moved across from a Home Care Package sit on transitioned classifications that provide an equivalent level of funding to the package they had.
Short-term funding
Three pathways that sit outside your quarterly budget
Not everything is funded through the ongoing classification. Three separate pathways cover equipment, intensive short-term recovery, and care at the end of life.
AT-HM Scheme
Equipment and home changes, funded separately
Funding for equipment and home modifications sits outside your quarterly budget, so you do not have to save up service money to buy a shower chair or put in a handrail.
- Funding
- Three tiers, up to $15,000
- Duration
- Funded for 12 months in most cases
You are assessed for AT-HM as part of your aged care assessment, and may be approved for an assistive technology tier, a home modifications tier, or both. It has its own priority system, so this funding can arrive at a different time to your ongoing funding.
Low tier
Under $500
Medium tier
Up to $2,000
High tier
Up to $15,000
- Assistive technology: walking frames, wheelchairs, shower chairs, commodes, non-slip mats
- Home modifications: handrails, ramps, stair lifts, bathroom redesign, widening doorways
Assistive technology high tier can go above $15,000 where assessed needs require it, with evidence and a request through My Aged Care. People who transitioned from a Home Care Package must use unspent package funds first.
Restorative care
Intensive short-term care to regain function
A short, intensive episode of allied health and nursing aimed at getting function back or stopping a decline, rather than settling into ongoing support.
- Funding
- Around $6,000 per episode
- Duration
- Up to 16 weeks per episode
This funding is separate from any ongoing Support at Home funding. An additional unit may be approved for eligible participants, giving up to $12,000 in one episode. Two non-consecutive episodes are possible, with at least three months between them.
- A multidisciplinary team, which might include physiotherapy, occupational therapy and exercise physiology
- A goal plan rather than a care plan, with goals achievable inside 16 weeks
- A restorative care partner coordinating the team
The pathway suits people who can keep living at home afterwards without ongoing services, or with no change to the services they already have.
End-of-life care
Support to stay at home in the last months
For people with three months or less to live who want to remain at home, alongside palliative care rather than instead of it.
- Funding
- Around $25,000 per participant
- Duration
- 12 weeks, extendable to 16
Eligibility is assessed by a doctor or nurse practitioner. If services are still needed after 12 weeks, the budget can be used up to the 16-week mark where funding remains, or a Support Plan Review can move the person to an ongoing classification.
- Open to people already receiving Support at Home and to people who are not
- Existing participants request an urgent Support Plan Review
- Funding is allocated immediately on approval, with no wait in the priority system
The government has said a second round of funding will be added for people who live beyond the initial 12 weeks, commencing from early 2027.
Who it is for
Whether you can access it
Eligibility is decided by an aged care assessment, not by a provider. To qualify for that assessment you need care needs, and you need to meet one of the age requirements.
The assessment also looks at how much help you need with everyday tasks. Meeting the age requirement on its own is not enough, and neither is age alone a barrier if your needs are assessed as suiting a different program.
Age requirement for an assessment
- Most people
- 65 years or older
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- 50 years or older
- People who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness
- 50 years or older
Age alone does not qualify you. The assessment also looks at how much help you need with everyday tasks.
Existing programs
If you were already receiving support
Support at Home did not start from a blank page. Where you sit depends on which program you were on when it began.
Home Care Package
People on a Home Care Package moved across to Support at Home when it started on 1 November 2025, on transitioned classifications that provide an equivalent level of funding. Unspent package funds are kept and must be used first when accessing the AT-HM scheme.
Short-Term Restorative Care
STRC clients continue with their provider, with services aligned to the Support at Home service list. An active STRC approval that had not started before 1 November 2025 can be used for the Restorative Care Pathway, but only for six months from the original approval date.
Commonwealth Home Support Programme
CHSP has not transitioned. The government has said it will move no earlier than 1 July 2027, and CHSP continues to operate as it does now until then.
Support at Home was set up in response to a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which asked for the separate in-home aged care programs to be brought together into one.
Keep reading
Where to go next
How it works
The ten steps from applying to receiving care, the priority system, and the deadlines that matter.
Read moreGetting started
What to do first, what to have ready, and what to expect at the assessment.
Read morePricing & contributions
Our published rates, what your share works out to, and what else can be charged.
Read moreWhere this information comes from
Program rules, funding amounts and dates on this page are set by the Australian Government, not by Bamboo Care. Each was checked against the official page below on 31 August 2026. Government settings are indexed and amended periodically, so confirm current figures before relying on them.
- About the Support at Home program (opens in a new tab) Department of Health, Disability and Ageing Program start, what it replaced, classifications and pathways
- How the Support at Home program works (opens in a new tab) Department of Health, Disability and Ageing The ten steps, priority system, take-up deadlines, care management
- Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme (opens in a new tab) Department of Health, Disability and Ageing AT-HM funding tiers and how the scheme is accessed
- Restorative Care Pathway (opens in a new tab) Department of Health, Disability and Ageing Episode funding, duration and eligibility
- End-of-Life Pathway (opens in a new tab) Department of Health, Disability and Ageing Pathway funding, duration and eligibility
- Am I eligible? (opens in a new tab) My Aged Care Age and needs requirements, and what happens after you apply
Not sure where you fit?
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