The Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), explained

What the CHSP is

The Commonwealth Home Support Program is the first rung of government-funded aged care at home. It helps older people stay independent and safe in their own homes and connected to their community, and to delay or avoid the need for higher-level care. Its approach is called wellness and reablement: staff do things with you, so you keep doing them yourself, rather than doing everything for you.

It is designed to give a small amount of help to a large number of people. More than 830,000 older people use it, and almost 40% of them live outside the major cities. Depending on the person's approved needs, services can be short term, episodic (put in place to improve function or capacity) or ongoing.

Unlike Support at Home, there is no personal budget. The government funds about 1,300 providers through grants, including state and local governments, not-for-profit organisations and community groups, and they deliver subsidised services to approved clients. Since 1 November 2025 the program has run under the Aged Care Act 2024, and providers must be registered and meet the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards.

The CHSP also funds planned respite so family carers can take a break.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: about the CHSP

The August 2026 change: extended to 2029 and staying separate

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).

On 20 August 2026, the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors wrote to CHSP providers that, in the longer term, the government believes the CHSP should remain a standalone program, with changes made to strengthen it, rather than rolling it into Support at Home.

This replaces the earlier plan, still shown on some government pages, for the CHSP to move into Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027.

What it means for families:

• Current clients keep their services. There is nothing you need to do.
• New clients can still be assessed and approved for the CHSP.
• The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing begins consultation in 2026 on the program's long-term design. It will look at how block funding continues beyond 2029, fair and equitable contributions to the cost of home care, early intervention, and how people move between types of in-home care as their needs change.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Commonwealth Home Support Program reforms

Who the CHSP suits

To be eligible, a person needs some support to keep living at home and must be:

• 65 or older, or
• an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person aged 50 or older, or
• 50 or older and homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients aged 45 to 49 who were homeless or at risk of homelessness, and were found eligible before 1 November 2025, can keep their CHSP services. Clients do not need to be Australian citizens or permanent residents.

The CHSP suits people who are mostly managing but need a hand with a few things. In general it is not for people with intensive, multiple or complex needs, who are better served by Support at Home, and it is not available to permanent residents of aged care homes.

Read more about Support at Home classifications and budgets.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: CHSP 2025-27 Manual (version 5, September 2026)

What the CHSP can provide

The assessment and support plan set out which services a person can receive. The service types are:

• Domestic assistance: general house cleaning, laundry and shopping
• Personal care: help with showering, dressing and grooming, and support to manage your own medicines
• Meals: delivered meals, or help preparing food
• Transport to appointments, shopping and social activities
• Home maintenance and repairs, including gardening, to keep the home safe
• Home adjustments and equipment: grab rails, ramps, and aids for self-care, mobility, communication and reading
• Nursing care, such as wound care and help with medications
• Allied health and therapy: podiatry, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, dietetics, social work and more
• Therapeutic services such as remedial massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, and art or diversional therapy
• Social support and community engagement: individual and group activities, cultural support and digital education
• Respite for a carer: at home, at a day centre, or overnight in cottage respite
• Hoarding and squalor assistance
• Specialised support services, such as continence, dementia, hearing and vision advice.

Care after a hospital stay is the job of the health system or transition care, not the CHSP. If someone already used the CHSP before going into hospital, extra short-term help can follow a Support Plan Review.

You usually cannot get the same service from two government programs at once. For example, someone who gets domestic help through Veterans' Home Care cannot also get CHSP domestic assistance.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: CHSP services

What it costs

The government pays the bulk of the cost, but the CHSP is not free. You pay a contribution towards each service, typically an hourly rate for the services you receive on the days you receive them. There are no exit fees or other charges.

There is no means test. Each provider sets its own contributions, so people with similar needs can pay different amounts for the same service in different places. Every provider must follow these rules:

• It must have a client contribution policy and a financial hardship policy, both publicly available, and explain them to you.
• Contributions are agreed in writing in your service agreement before services start, and services do not start until you agree.
• You are never asked to pay the full cost, and a contribution can never be more than the actual cost of the service.
• You cannot be refused services because you are unable to contribute. The hardship policy explains how to ask for a waiver or reduction and what evidence you need.
• A provider cannot ask you to pay more than 1 month in advance, and money paid in advance for services you do not receive must be refunded within 14 days of stopping services.
• If you and your partner both use the CHSP, you pay once for a shared service such as a one-hour clean. A partner who is not a client cannot be charged.
• Hoarding and squalor assistance has no contribution.

The Department publishes a guide range of reasonable contributions for each service type for 2026-27, in Appendix E of the CHSP Manual. It is a useful check when comparing providers. Simple services such as meals tend to cost little, while home modification work costs much more.

Receiving CHSP services does not affect the Age Pension, because the government pays the subsidy to the provider, not to you. For information on aged care costs, call the Financial Information Service on 132 300.

Source: My Aged Care: Commonwealth Home Support Program costs

How to get CHSP services

1. Apply for an assessment through My Aged Care: online, on 1800 200 422, or with an Aged Care Specialist Officer at Services Australia (book on 1800 227 475). See how to register with My Aged Care.
2. The assessment organisation decides which kind of assessment is needed. A home support assessment covers entry-level services such as the CHSP. A comprehensive assessment is for Support at Home and aged care homes.
3. Read the Notice of Decision and support plan. They list each approved service, with a referral code for each.
4. Find providers. The assessor can refer you, you can search by suburb or postcode in the Find a provider tool, or you can ask My Aged Care to send your referral codes to several local providers to see who has capacity.
5. Talk to providers before agreeing. Ask about contributions, weekend rates, whether they deliver the service themselves or subcontract it, and how soon they can start. You can use a different provider for each service.
6. Give your chosen provider the referral code, then sign the service agreement and agree a care and services plan. Providers review services at least every 12 months.

Services are not always available straight away. Some providers keep waitlists, and people with the highest level of need are offered services first. If one provider cannot start soon, ask others.

If help is needed urgently

If there is a significant risk of harm without services, My Aged Care, an Aged Care Specialist Officer or an assessment organisation can refer the person straight to a provider for urgent CHSP services, such as nursing for wound care, meal delivery, personal care or transport to a specialist appointment. These can start before the assessment, which must still be completed afterwards.

Source: My Aged Care: connecting with Commonwealth Home Support Program providers

The CHSP and Support at Home together

The two programs connect in three ways.

• While waiting for Support at Home. Current CHSP clients keep their services, including equipment and home adjustments, until ongoing Support at Home starts. New clients waiting for Support at Home funding can use CHSP services in the meantime if they have approved CHSP referrals, but not CHSP equipment or home adjustments. CHSP services stop once ongoing Support at Home services begin.
• Alongside Support at Home. A Support at Home participant can still use the CHSP for a CHSP social support group they already attended, planned respite (cottage, centre-based or flexible), hoarding and squalor assistance, vision advisory services, and short-term urgent help when their budget is fully used or they are waiting for their full budget.
• Moving up. If needs grow beyond what the CHSP can provide, ask the provider or My Aged Care for a Support Plan Review. Moving from the CHSP to Support at Home needs a reassessment.

Support at Home funding has its own wait. See aged care waiting times for the latest estimates.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: CHSP 2025-27 Manual (version 5, September 2026)

If something goes wrong

Raise it with the provider first. Every provider has its own complaints process. If that does not fix it, you can complain to the Complaints Commissioner at the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission online or on 1800 951 822. Complaints cost nothing, can be made anonymously, and can go straight to the Commissioner even if you have not spoken to the provider.

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) gives free, independent advocacy on 1800 700 600 (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm), including help to talk to a provider or make a complaint.

If a provider changes its contributions, it should explain the change and give you time to adjust. If money is tight, ask for its hardship policy.

If you are worried an older person is being mistreated, call the Elder Abuse Phone Line on 1800 353 374. See also aged care advocacy and complaints.

Source: My Aged Care: making a complaint