Support at Home: budgets, contributions and wait times

What is Support at Home and how much is it?

Support at Home is the government's in-home aged care program. It replaced Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care on 1 November 2025. After an assessment, a person gets one of 8 ongoing classifications with a quarterly budget, from $2,757.89 a quarter (classification 1) to $20,073.50 (classification 8), as at 1 October 2026. They contribute towards some services depending on income and assets. Clinical care is fully funded, and from 1 October 2026 so is personal care.

The 8 classifications and budgets

An aged care assessor decides the classification from the person's needs. The budget pays for services from the list approved in the support plan, and includes 10% for care management. Budgets are indexed each 1 July and were last raised on 1 October 2026.

Support at Home ongoing classifications (as at 1 October 2026)
Classification	Quarterly budget	Yearly amount
1	$2,757.89	$11,031.56
2	$4,120.89	$16,483.55
3	$5,645.23	$22,580.93
4	$7,632.04	$30,528.15
5	$10,202.32	$40,809.27
6	$12,365.48	$49,461.91
7	$14,944.20	$59,776.80
8	$20,073.50	$80,294.00

Unspent money can be carried into the next quarter, up to $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, as My Aged Care puts it. Every provider must publish its full price list, so the same budget buys more hours with some providers than others. Providers send a monthly statement.

Transitioned Home Care Package classifications

People who were on a Home Care Package, or were assessed as eligible for one on or before 31 October 2025, were transitioned to Support at Home with funding equivalent to their package level:

Transitioned Home Care Package classifications (as at 1 October 2026)
Transitioned classification	Quarterly budget	About a year
Transitioned level 1	$2,823.55	$11,294
Transitioned level 2	$4,965.14	$19,861
Transitioned level 3	$10,808.30	$43,233
Transitioned level 4	$16,385.99	$65,544

Transitioned participants kept any unspent package funds for Support at Home. A reassessment for higher needs leads to one of the 8 classifications above. More on how Home Care Packages were replaced.

What you contribute

Services fall into three categories, and the contribution is a percentage of the price of each service:

Support at Home contribution rates
Category	Examples	Contribution
Clinical supports	Nursing, occupational therapy, podiatry, care management, and (from 1 October 2026) personal care such as help with showering and dressing	Nil for everyone. From 1 October 2026 this includes personal care.
Independence	Things like remedial massage, support to get to appointments, and equipment from the assistive technology scheme	Full pensioners 5%; part pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders 5% to 50%; self-funded retirees 50%.
Everyday living	Cleaning, gardening and similar help around the home	Full pensioners 17.5%; part pensioners and card holders 17.5% to 80%; self-funded retirees 80%.

The exact percentage comes from an income and assets assessment by Services Australia (for pensioners, it uses the information already held). Without one, the person is treated as "means not disclosed" and pays the highest rates. My Aged Care has a Support at Home fee estimator.

Personal care is fully funded from 1 October 2026. If personal care is approved in the support plan, there is no contribution for it.
The "no worse off" rule. People who were receiving, or approved for, a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024 pay the same or less under Support at Home than under their old package, and those who paid no package fees will never be asked for contributions. Their lifetime cap is $88,934.57 (as at 20 September 2026).
Everyone else: Support at Home contributions count towards the same lifetime cap as the non-clinical care contribution in an aged care home, $140,652.80 (as at 20 September 2026).
If paying is genuinely hard, financial hardship assistance can cover some or all of the contributions.

Short-term help

Restorative Care Pathway: intensive allied health or nursing to regain function, $6,179.40 per unit for people starting from 1 October 2026, up to 2 units in 12 months, in 16-week episodes. There is no waitlist once approved.
End-of-Life Pathway: for people with 3 months or less to live, $25,736.57 over 12 weeks (usable over up to 16 weeks), for people starting from 1 October 2026. There is no waitlist once approved. The government has announced a second round of funding for people who live beyond the first 12 weeks, from early 2027.
Assistive technology and home modifications: a separate low, medium or high funding tier, usually for 12 months, so equipment and changes to the home don't come out of the quarterly budget.

How long the wait is

Approval and funding are separate steps. After assessment, ongoing funding is released through the Support at Home Priority System, by priority category and approval date. My Aged Care's estimates (last updated 30 June 2026):

Estimated wait for ongoing Support at Home funding
Priority category	Estimated wait for funding
Urgent	Within 1 month
High	1 month
Medium	5 to 6 months
Standard	7 to 8 months

Measured from application to starting services, the national median was 297 days (about 10 months) in April to June 2026, and the median wait for an assessment was 26 days. When waits run long, a person may get interim funding of 60% of their budget first. Once funding is allocated, there are 56 days to sign a service agreement with a provider (My Aged Care can extend this by 28 days).

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme

For people who need a little help, such as some cleaning, meals or transport, the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) is the entry-level program. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) has been extended to 30 June 2029 and will stay a separate program rather than merging into Support at Home (announced August 2026).

When an aged care home makes more sense

Support at Home works well for many people for years. It tends to stop being enough when:

help is needed overnight, or someone needs to be there most of the day;
falls, wandering or confusion make being alone unsafe;
the care needed costs more than even the highest budget ($80,294.00 a year) can buy at the provider's prices;
a carer at home is exhausted or unwell;
there have been repeated trips to hospital.

In an aged care home, care is there around the clock and a registered nurse must be on site and on duty at all times. Our guide Is it time for aged care? goes through the signs and how to raise it. A short respite stay is a common way to try a home first. If you'd like help finding a home, see aged care placement.

Questions about Support at Home

How much funding does Support at Home give?

It depends on the classification an assessor gives. The 8 ongoing classifications run from $2,757.89 a quarter ($11,031.56 a year) for classification 1 to $20,073.50 a quarter ($80,294.00 a year) for classification 8, as at 1 October 2026. The budget includes care management and is spent with the provider you choose.

Do we pay anything for personal care under Support at Home?

No contribution for personal care delivered from 1 October 2026, such as help with showering and dressing, if it is approved in the support plan. The government moved personal care into the fully funded clinical supports category.

What replaced Home Care Packages?

They were replaced by Support at Home on 1 November 2025. People who had a package kept an equivalent level of funding under a transitioned classification. See how Home Care Packages were replaced.

How long is the wait for Support at Home?

It depends on the priority category in the assessment outcome letter. My Aged Care's guide (last updated 30 June 2026) is within 1 month for urgent and 1 month for high priority, 5 to 6 months for medium and 7 to 8 months for standard. Nationally, the median from application to starting ongoing services was 297 days in April to June 2026.

Is the Commonwealth Home Support Programme part of Support at Home?

No. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) has been extended to 30 June 2029 and will stay a separate program rather than merging into Support at Home (announced August 2026).

Can Support at Home pay for a stay in an aged care home?

No. Short stays in an aged care home are residential respite, which is arranged and paid for separately. See respite care.

General information only

General information only. This page explains how aged care fees and accommodation payments work, using the rates and rules published by the Australian Government as at 20 September 2026 (Support at Home budgets as at 1 October 2026). It is not financial, legal or tax advice, and it doesn't take anyone's personal circumstances into account. The fees a person actually pays are worked out by Services Australia after an income and assets assessment, and the accommodation price is agreed with the home in an accommodation agreement (it can't be more than the home's published price). Rates change several times a year. For an official estimate, use the fee estimator on My Aged Care (myagedcare.gov.au, 1800 200 422). For free information about your options, call the Services Australia Financial Information Service on 132 300.

We're not financial advisers. Best Aged Care (Boring Ventures Pty Ltd) does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence or an Australian credit licence and is not a registered tax agent. We give factual information about how aged care fees and payment options work. We don't recommend how to pay accommodation costs (a RAD, a DAP or a mix), whether to sell, keep or rent the family home, how to arrange assets, or which financial, superannuation, insurance, credit or investment products to use. For those decisions you can call the free Financial Information Service on 132 300, see a licensed financial adviser who specialises in aged care, or speak to a lawyer about powers of attorney and contracts.

If you'd like, we can give you the names and contact details of licensed financial advisers who work in aged care. We don't receive any fee, commission or other benefit from them or anyone else we mention, and their advice is their responsibility, not ours. Before you engage an adviser, check them on the Financial Advisers Register at moneysmart.gov.au.

Sources

Last reviewed October 2026. Fee figures are as at 20 September 2026 unless another date is shown next to them. General information only, not financial, legal or medical advice. We are not a government service. How we check our facts.