Home Care Package Levels 1-4 & Support at Home 2026

For years, government-subsidised care at home was delivered through Home Care Packages with four levels. The level reflected how much help an older person needed, and it set an annual budget the person and their approved provider spent on care. The final annual budgets, in the period just before the system changed on 1 November 2025, were roughly:

• Level 1 (basic care needs): about $10,986.50 a year. For people who are largely independent and need light help such as cleaning, shopping, meal help or some social support.

• Level 2 (low care needs): about $19,319.45 a year. Adds more personal care (showering, dressing), some basic nursing and more regular visits.

• Level 3 (intermediate care needs): about $42,055.30 a year. Heavier support including medication management, nursing and allied health (physio, podiatry) alongside personal and domestic care.

• Level 4 (high care needs): about $63,758.20 a year. For complex needs - daily personal care, nursing, allied health, equipment and behavioural support to stay safely at home.

These figures were indexed every 1 July, so earlier-dated figures you may see online (for example a Level 4 of about $61,440 from mid-2024) are simply older versions of the same level. The level itself, not the exact dollar figure, is what mattered.

This is general information, not personal or financial advice. Your own budget depends on your assessed needs and any fees.

On 1 November 2025 the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme were replaced by a single new program called Support at Home, delivered under the new Aged Care Act 2024. It is the biggest change to home aged care in a generation.

The headline change is structure. Instead of 4 package levels, Support at Home has 8 ongoing funding classifications, so funding steps up more gradually as needs increase. There are also three short-term pathways for restorative care, end-of-life care, and a separate scheme for assistive technology and home modifications (more on those below).

Importantly, the language changed: people are now 'participants' with a 'classification' and a quarterly 'budget', rather than a 'package level'. The underlying idea is the same - government-subsidised services to help you live at home - but the funding, fees and budget rules were reset.

If you only ever heard 'I'm on a Level 3 package', that phrase still describes what your parent had; it just now maps onto the new system as explained in the next section.

From 1 November 2025, someone newly approved for ongoing services is assigned one of eight classifications. Each has a set annual budget (paid as four quarterly budgets), and up to 10% of each quarterly budget is set aside for care management. The annual budgets effective 1 November 2025 are approximately:

• Classification 1: $10,731

• Classification 2: $16,034.45

• Classification 3: $21,965.70

• Classification 4: $29,696.40

• Classification 5: $39,697.40

• Classification 6: $48,114.30

• Classification 7: $58,148.15

• Classification 8: $78,106.35

These amounts are indexed on 1 July each year, so confirm the current figure with My Aged Care or your provider. You can carry only a limited amount of unspent budget between quarters - up to $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, whichever is greater - so the new system discourages large stockpiling of funds.

Anyone who already had unspent Home Care Package funds keeps that balance; it carries across into Support at Home and can be spent in addition to the new budget.

No one on a package was dropped or downgraded. If your parent was on a Home Care Package on 31 October 2025, they were moved to a 'transitioned HCP' classification that keeps an equivalent funding level to their old Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. People who had been assessed and approved for a package but were still waiting for funding kept their place and receive an equivalent classification when funding becomes available.

On fees, the government applied a 'no worse off' principle. Anyone who was receiving, or had been approved for, a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024 will pay the same or less under Support at Home than they would have under the old rules. Existing income-tested-fee arrangements were grandfathered, and the lifetime contribution cap (about $84,571.66 as at 1 November 2025) carries over.

So in plain terms: if your parent was already in the system before the cut-off, the reform should not cost them more. If they enter the system now, the new contribution rules below apply.

This is general information only. For your specific fees, talk to the free Services Australia Financial Information Service (call 132 300 and ask for the Financial Information Service).

Support at Home splits services into three groups and charges different contribution rates for each. The government pays 100% of clinical care (such as nursing and allied health) for everyone - participants contribute 0% to clinical care. You then contribute towards 'independence' services (like personal care and some social support) and 'everyday living' services (like cleaning, gardening and meals), with the rate depending on your means.

As a guide, from 1 November 2025: a full pensioner contributes about 0% for clinical care, 5% for independence services and 17.5% for everyday living services. A self-funded retiree (not on a pension) contributes about 0% clinical, 50% independence and 80% everyday living. Part-pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders sit in between.

People protected by the 'no worse off' principle keep lower rates - for self-funded retirees in that group, the independence and everyday-living contribution is capped around 25%, and full pensioners in that group can contribute 0% across the board.

Because these percentages directly affect what your family pays out of pocket, get them confirmed for your situation through the Financial Information Service (132 300) before signing a service agreement.

You cannot pick a level yourself - it is set by an assessment. Since 9 December 2024 there is a single assessment pathway: you register with My Aged Care (online or on 1800 200 422), a trained assessor visits at home, and they recommend a classification based on need. People aged 65 and over (50 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) can be assessed.

Funding is not always immediate. Approved participants join the Support at Home Priority System, and how long you wait depends on your priority group and the date you were approved. Higher-needs classifications have historically had longer waits, sometimes many months, which is why families are encouraged to get assessed early - before a crisis.

To reduce harm from waits, if your wait for full ongoing funding runs longer than expected you may be offered interim funding of about 60% of your approved budget, so the most critical services can start while the rest is allocated later. Short-term restorative care and end-of-life pathways are funded immediately once approved.

Once you receive an approval letter, you generally have 56 days to enter a service agreement with a provider, with a possible 28-day extension via My Aged Care. While waiting, lower-intensity help may be available through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme.

Equipment and home changes are no longer paid from your ongoing care budget. A separate Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme funds things like rails, ramps, shower modifications, walkers and beds, assessed in tiers. Home-modification tiers are capped at roughly $500 (low), $2,000 (medium) and $15,000 (high, a lifetime cap), with extra flexibility for complex needs or progressive conditions, and a higher loading in some remote areas. This means a wheelchair or bathroom rail no longer drains the budget meant for daily care.

Aged care decisions are stressful, and the system is genuinely confusing right now. Use the free, independent help before paying anyone:

• My Aged Care: 1800 200 422 - the official starting point for registration, assessment and finding providers.

• OPAN (Older Persons Advocacy Network): 1800 700 600 - free, confidential, independent advocacy if you feel pressured, unheard, or unsure of your rights.

• Services Australia Financial Information Service: call 132 300 and ask for the Financial Information Service - free, independent help understanding fees and the impact on pensions, with no products to sell.

• Dementia Australia: 1800 100 500 - free support if dementia is part of the picture.

None of these services charge you, and none are tied to a particular provider. Use them first.