Aged care — Support at Home

The Government's main community-based aged care program from 1 November 2025. It replaced Home Care Packages and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. It's for people with moderate to complex care needs at home.

Approved participants get a classification (1 to 8) which determines the funding envelope. Services sit in three official categories — Clinical Care, Independence (which includes personal care, transport, social support and respite), and Everyday Living. Personal care has its own cost-share rules within Independence, so we usually call it out separately.

• CHSP (Commonwealth Home Support Programme) is for people with low-level needs — basic help with cleaning, meals, social support, transport. Simpler. Less funded.
• Support at Home is for people with moderate to complex needs. Coordinated care, a care manager, more services, higher funding.

You can be approved for one or the other based on your assessment.

Three official service categories — though personal care, which sits within Independence, has its own cost-share rules so we list it separately for clarity:

• Clinical Care (nursing, physio, OT, podiatry, allied health): Government pays 100%. You pay nothing.
• Independence — personal care (showering, dressing, grooming, toileting): from 1 October 2026, fully Government-funded — no participant contribution.
• Independence — other (transport, social support, respite, community participation): means-tested participant contribution.
• Everyday Living (cleaning, laundry, gardening, meals, shopping): largest participant contribution.

The split reflects a deliberate policy choice in the new Act — clinical and personal care are treated as a public responsibility; everyday lifestyle help is treated as something people contribute to where they can afford it.

• Restorative Care: 6 to 12 weeks of intensive allied-health and nursing support after a fall, hospital admission or surgery — to help you get back on your feet.
• AT-HM (Assistive Technology and Home Modifications): upfront funding for equipment (mobility aids, smart home tech) and home modifications (ramps, bathroom alterations, grab rails).
• End-of-Life Pathway: high-priority, intensive support for people in their last ~3 months of life. Direct referral possible without standard assessment.

These are funded outside the standard classification cap.

Varies by service. Clinical services often start within days of provider sign-up. Community services (cleaning, meals, social transport) can take weeks to months in oversubscribed regions.