Support at Home

Home Care Packages had four levels. Support at Home has eight funding classifications, so the amount is matched more closely to what someone actually needs.

Each classification carries a quarterly budget, and the amounts are indexed every July. They are not printed here for that reason — a number in a guide goes stale without anyone noticing. My Aged Care publishes the current figures.

• 1. Call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422, or apply online
• 2. They arrange a free assessment at home
• 3. ACAT was replaced by the Single Assessment System, phased in from 1 July 2024 — one assessment workforce instead of several, arranged through My Aged Care
• 4. The assessment works out which classification fits
• 5. You will receive a letter showing what the person has been approved for. Keep it
• 6. You choose a provider, and care begins

Approval does not mean services start the same week. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) is the lower-level help — cleaning, meals, transport, social support — and it continues alongside Support at Home. Ask My Aged Care about CHSP services in the meantime. Do not wait in silence.

• You contribute towards services in the independence and everyday living categories
• No contribution for clinical supports — nursing, for example
• What you pay depends on the service type and on your income and assets. Services Australia works out your contribution

You choose your provider — and you can change if it is not working. Compare the fees they charge, the services they offer, and what families in your area say about them. Your funding follows you if you switch.

The End-of-Life Pathway sits inside Support at Home. A doctor or nurse practitioner completes the form, confirming an estimated life expectancy of three months or less and certifying that the person is in bed more than half the time. The person must be 65 or over, or 50 or over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

It provides around $25,000 for home care services over 12 weeks. If funding is left at the end of that, it can be used for a further four weeks — 16 weeks in total. That is not an automatic extension; it depends on there being funding left. If services are needed beyond it, the person or their provider can request an urgent Support Plan Review, so they continue under an ongoing Support at Home classification.