Home Care Package levels 1 to 4, and what replaced them in Support at Home

The four old levels, and what replaced them

Until 1 November 2025, government-funded care at home for people with higher needs came as a Home Care Package at one of four levels. Level 1 carried the least funding and Level 4 the most, and the person and their provider spent that funding on care and services.

On 1 November 2025, Support at Home replaced both the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. It has:

• 8 ongoing classifications, so funding steps up more gradually than it did with four levels
• 4 transitioned classifications for people who came across from the old program, matching their old level
• 3 short-term pathways: restorative care, end-of-life care, and assistive technology and home modifications
• contributions set by the government, based on the type of service and the person's means.

The language changed too. People are now "participants" with a "classification" and a quarterly "budget". If your parent says they are "on a Level 2", they are most likely on Transitioned HCP Level 2 (HCP stands for Home Care Package; see the table below), unless they have since been reassessed.

Support at Home is for people who need coordinated or more intensive help at home. People who need only a little help, such as a regular clean or transport, are usually better matched to the separate Commonwealth Home Support Program.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: about Support at Home

How the old levels map to Support at Home

Anyone receiving a package on 31 October 2025, or approved for one and still waiting, became a transitioned participant automatically, with no new assessment needed. Their funding level stayed the same.

People who had been approved for a package by 31 October 2025 but were still waiting receive the transitioned classification for their approved level when funding becomes available.

Two things can change a transitioned participant's position:

• A reassessment. If needs grow beyond the transitioned budget, a reassessment approves one of the 8 standard Support at Home classifications instead.
• Unspent funds from the old package. Government funds left unspent on 31 October 2025 carried across into a separate balance, with no carry-over cap. They are used first for equipment and home modifications, can pay for approved services once a quarterly budget is used up, and move with the person if they change provider.

Source: My Aged Care: Support at Home costs and contributions

The 8 Support at Home classifications and budgets

Everyone newly approved for ongoing Support at Home is given one of 8 classifications. The assessor sets it from the person's assessed needs, and it appears in the decision letter with the budget. You cannot choose a classification.

How the budget works

• The annual amount is split into four quarterly budgets, released at the start of each quarter (July, October, January and April). Someone who starts mid-quarter gets a part budget for that first quarter.
• 10% of each quarterly budget goes to the provider for care management, which pays for a care partner to plan and review services with you.
• Unspent money carries over to the next quarter, up to $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, whichever is higher.
• Services Australia holds the budget, and the provider must send a monthly statement showing services delivered, contributions paid and what is left.
• All Support at Home services come from one provider, so check that a provider can deliver everything in the support plan before you sign.
• Providers set their own prices and must publish them, so the same budget buys more or less depending on the provider. You can compare prices in the Find a provider tool on My Aged Care.
• If the budget cannot meet the person's needs, ask for a reassessment for a higher classification. Extra services can also be bought privately, outside the budget.

Source: My Aged Care: managing your Support at Home budget

What you contribute

Support at Home has no daily fee and no income-tested care fee. Instead, the person pays a percentage of the price of each service they receive, and the government pays the rest to the provider. The percentage depends on the type of service and on an income and assets assessment by Services Australia.

Other rules worth knowing:

• Full and part pensioners are assessed from the information Services Australia already holds. Self-funded retirees need to provide their income and assets details, and anyone who does not is charged the maximum rates.
• Contributions stop once they reach a lifetime cap of $140,652.80 (as at 20 September 2026, indexed each March and September). The cap is shared with the non-clinical care contribution in an aged care home, so contributions at home count towards it if the person later moves into care.
• People in genuine financial hardship can apply to Services Australia for help, and the government may then pay some or all of their contributions.
• Contribution rates can change with the person's circumstances and with pension indexation in March and September. Services Australia writes to the person and the provider when they do.

The Support at Home fee estimator on My Aged Care gives an estimate. For what the rules mean in your situation, the Financial Information Service at Services Australia can help on 132 300. See also what aged care costs.

Source: My Aged Care: Support at Home costs and contributions

The no worse off rule (approved on or before 12 September 2024)

Anyone who, on or before 12 September 2024, was receiving a Home Care Package, was in the national queue for one, or had been assessed as eligible for one is grandfathered. They pay the same as or less than they would have under the old package rules:

• If they were not required to pay an income-tested care fee on 31 October 2025, they will never pay Support at Home contributions. This includes all grandfathered full pensioners.
• If they were paying an income-tested care fee, their contribution rates are the same or lower, based on income only, with a fortnightly cap on the total.
• These protections continue even if they are later reassessed into a higher classification.
• They keep the old package lifetime cap of $88,934.57 (as at 20 September 2026, indexed), including if they later move into an aged care home.

People approved after 12 September 2024 pay the standard contributions above, even if they transitioned from a package.

The same date matters for aged care homes: people who had or were approved for a package on or before 12 September 2024 also keep the older residential fee arrangements if they move into care. See what aged care costs.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Support at Home participant contributions

The short-term pathways

Restorative Care Pathway

Up to 16 weeks of coordinated allied health and nursing to help someone regain function after a change such as a fall or a hospital stay, and to delay the need for ongoing care. For people starting from 1 October 2026, funding is $6,179.40 per unit, and a person can have up to 2 units in 12 months: either two separate 16-week episodes, or both units ($12,358.80) in one episode if approved through a Support Plan Review. It replaced the old Short-Term Restorative Care Programme.

End-of-Life Pathway

For people aged 65 or over (50 or over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) who have 3 months or less to live. It provides $25,736.57 over 12 weeks, usable for up to 16 weeks, for extra care at home alongside any palliative care. A doctor or nurse practitioner completes a form confirming the life expectancy and that the person is in bed more than half the time, and you then ask My Aged Care for a high-priority assessment. It can be used once. From early 2027 a second round of funding will be available for people who live beyond the first 12 weeks.

Assistive technology and home modifications (AT-HM)

Equipment (such as walking frames, shower chairs, commodes and wheelchairs) and home modifications (such as rails, ramps and bathroom changes) are funded separately from the quarterly budget, in low, medium and high tiers set at the assessment, so there is no need to save up. Funding usually lasts 12 months, and complex home modifications can be extended to 24 months. The high tier for home modifications is a once-in-a-lifetime amount, and home modifications must be prescribed by an occupational therapist.

Equipment and modifications attract a contribution at the independence rate, but the prescription and related support services do not. People who transitioned from a package must use their unspent package funds for equipment and modifications first.

Restorative care and end-of-life funding are allocated immediately on approval. Equipment and home modifications have their own priority systems, separate from ongoing funding.

Source: My Aged Care: Support at Home costs and contributions

How long funding takes

Approval is not the same as funding. Ongoing funding is allocated through the Support at Home Priority System by priority category and approval date. My Aged Care's estimates, last updated 30 June 2026, are within 1 month for urgent priority, 1 month for high, 5 to 6 months for medium and 7 to 8 months for standard.

Counted from the day of applying, the national median to start ongoing Support at Home was 297 days in April to June 2026. That figure includes the assessment and the time people spend choosing a provider.

If waits run long, the person may be given interim funding of 60% of their budget to start the most important services, with the rest released later and not backdated. Once funding is allocated there are 56 days to sign a service agreement and start, and My Aged Care can extend this by 28 days.

While waiting, the Commonwealth Home Support Program can provide entry-level help to people with approved referrals. See aged care waiting times for every wait in the system.

Source: My Aged Care: assessment outcome for Support at Home

When care at home is no longer enough

The highest classification provides $80,294.00 a year (current as of 1 October 2026), spent at the provider's prices. If needs keep growing, a reassessment can approve a higher classification or care in an aged care home, and a person can be approved for both.

Many people use both in turn. About 23% of the people who moved permanently into an aged care home in April to June 2026 had first received home care under the same approval.

Contributions paid at home count towards the same lifetime cap if the person later moves into an aged care home, and grandfathered people keep their protections there too.

Our guide to home care or an aged care home compares the two on care, cost and safety, and the signs that home is no longer working.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: wait times report, April to June 2026