By Steve Hadfield, AgedCareActionPlan.au · Last reviewed: 23 June 2026
Last reviewed: · Next review: after the 20 March 2027 indexation
Price caps were paused in May 2026 — no new start date
Price caps were due to start on 1 July 2026, but in May 2026 the Government paused them. No new start date has been announced. Providers still set their own prices, but they can't charge entry or exit fees, and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission can require a provider to refund overcharges.
Source: Australian Ageing Agenda, 20 May 2026 ↗The lifetime contribution cap is $140,652.80, not $137,917.01
The standard Support at Home lifetime cap on non-clinical contributions was indexed on 20 September 2026 from $137,917.01 to $140,652.80. This is the figure now used by Services Australia. Next indexation is 20 March 2027.
Source: My Aged Care — Changes to contributions ↗Last updated: 16 October 2026
Four clauses should stop you signing a service agreement: an exit fee, a lock-in period, no complaints process, and extra fees. Extra fees means separate administration, package management or travel fees. Each goes against the Support at Home rules. If you find any of these, ask the provider to fix it before you sign.
The clauses below are either prohibited under Support at Home or directly breach the rules. Do not sign an agreement that contains any of them — ask the provider to remove the clause and send a corrected version. Reviewing the agreement is one step in the wider job of choosing and managing an aged care provider, and a bad agreement is often the first sign you have the wrong one.
Exit fees are prohibited under Support at Home — regardless of what they are called. If the agreement includes a fee for leaving, an "early termination fee," a "transition charge," or any similar description of a cost you would incur by switching providers, that clause is unlawful. Do not sign. Ask for it to be removed before you proceed.
Under Support at Home, a provider can't charge you a separate administration, package management or travel fee for your services. Those costs must be included in the price of each service. If the agreement lists any of these fees as its own charge, ask for it to be removed before you sign. This applies whatever the fee is called. Equipment and home modifications are different. They can have a separate administration or coordination charge, but it's capped.
Care management works differently. For everyone getting ongoing services, 10% of each quarterly budget is set aside for care management. This is the same with every provider. Your provider doesn't set this amount. There's no percentage for you to check. Our guide to home care package fees explains what you can be charged for.
There is no lawful mechanism for a Support at Home provider to lock you in. You have the right to switch providers at any time. Any clause specifying a minimum period of service — or a penalty for leaving before a set date — conflicts with your rights. Ask for it to be removed.
Section 148-65 of the Aged Care Rules 2025 requires service agreements to be written in plain language that is readily understandable. A document your family cannot understand without legal help is not meeting this standard. You are entitled to a plain-English version. Ask for one.
Every service agreement must include a complaint and feedback mechanism. Its absence is a compliance failure. It also matters practically — this process is your first formal avenue if services don't go as agreed. If there is no complaints process in the document, ask the provider to add one before you sign.
Under the Aged Care Act 2024, every provider is legally required to explain your rights under the Statement of Rights and reference it in your service agreement. The Statement of Rights replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights when the new Act commenced. Its absence from the agreement is a compliance failure.
Skip to the What to do if you've already signed section below. You have options — including free advocacy through OPAN on 1800 700 600.
How a provider handles the agreement reveals as much as the document itself. Treat these as warnings: pressure to sign the same day, refusal to send the agreement in advance, an inability to explain a clause in plain English, or a dense legal document. The Aged Care Rules 2025 require plain language throughout.
Urgency language — "we need this back today", "your services could be delayed otherwise", "we just need a signature to get started" — is a tactic. It is not how a compliant provider operates. Your provider is legally required to give you time. A provider who ignores that obligation before you've even started is showing you how they'll handle disputes once you are locked in. This isn't only good-practice advice. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has told providers directly, in writing, that it is not acceptable to pressure older people to finalise their service agreements before they are required to. A provider who pushes you is acting against what the regulator has explicitly instructed.
You are entitled to receive the agreement before any signing meeting — with enough time to read it and ask questions. If the provider only produces it at the meeting and expects you to sign without time to review it, that is not an oversight. Ask for it to be sent to you at least a few days ahead. If they refuse, consider whether this is the right provider.
Under the Aged Care Rules 2025, service agreements must be written in plain language that is readily understandable. If your provider cannot explain a clause in plain English — or their explanation contradicts what's written — do not sign until it is resolved in writing. "That's just standard wording" is not an explanation.
A compliant Support at Home service agreement is not a 30-page legal document. The Aged Care Rules 2025 require plain language. If the document you've received requires a lawyer to interpret, ask the provider for a plain-English version. If one doesn't exist, that is a compliance issue — and a reliable signal about the provider's culture.
Some clauses aren't automatic deal-breakers but need answers in writing first: a vague service schedule, clauses that let prices change without you agreeing, cancellation fees that apply regardless of notice, a "TBC" contribution rate with no explained process, or no care plan review schedule. Get each one clarified before you sign.
Your agreement should name each service specifically — the type of service, how often it will be delivered, and approximately when. A schedule that says "services as agreed from time to time" gives the provider latitude to deliver less than you expect without technically breaching the agreement.
Ask for the service schedule to name each service, its frequency, and approximate timing. If the provider says this will be "worked out once services start" — get whatever is agreed in that conversation added to the agreement as a written variation.
Providers can change their prices under Support at Home, but only if you agree. The new price must be recorded in one of three ways. It can be a new signed agreement, a signed updated price list, or your acknowledgement by email or online. If the agreement lets the provider raise prices just by telling you, ask for that clause to be rewritten before you sign.
Providers can legitimately charge for services cancelled with very short notice — typically less than 24 or 48 hours. This is standard. What to watch for: any cancellation fee that applies regardless of how much notice you gave, or fees that apply when the provider cancels rather than when you do. You should not be charged for a service the provider failed to deliver.
If Services Australia hasn't yet confirmed your individual contribution rate, the agreement may show "TBC" (to be confirmed). This is acceptable. What the agreement should also include is the process: that Services Australia will write to you with your confirmed rate, that you will be given the updated rate before it is applied, and how to raise any concerns. If the agreement is silent on this process, ask the provider to add the explanation before you sign.
Under the Aged Care Rules 2025, your care plan must be reviewed at least once every 12 months, or whenever you request a review. Your service agreement should reflect this. If the agreement either omits care plan reviews or sets an interval longer than 12 months, ask the provider to correct it.
Your agreement doesn't have to guarantee the same worker every visit. But a good provider will include a commitment to consistent staffing wherever possible. An agreement with no reference to staffing continuity is often a sign of a provider who rotates workers frequently. Ask the provider what their policy is — and if they're confident in it, ask for it to be reflected in the agreement.
If your parent is transitioning from a Home Care Package, they have up to 90 days to sign the new Support at Home agreement after Services Australia confirms their contribution rate — and services continue meanwhile. New participants sign before or on the day services start. No one can be pressured to sign early.
This 90-day window is a transition arrangement for people who were already receiving a Home Care Package. If your parent is new to government-funded home care, the position is different: the agreement must be in place before or on the day services start. Either way, you are entitled to enough time, information and support to make an informed decision before signing — a right the Aged Care Act 2024 protects.
One honest note the reassuring version leaves out: the 90 days is not open-ended. If a transitioned participant still has not signed after 90 days, the provider is allowed to cease services — but only after giving 14 days' written notice first. So treat the window as real protection, not a deadline to ignore. Use the time; don't run it to zero.
Many older people feel they can't push back on a provider — they worry about seeming difficult, or that the provider will deprioritise them if they ask too many questions. Asking questions before you sign is not being difficult. It is your legal right. A good provider will welcome it. A provider who doesn't is showing you who they are.
Your Support at Home service agreement is the legal contract your provider sends before services begin. It sets out what they'll deliver, what you'll pay, your rights, and how to leave. Once signed it binds both sides — which is why reading it before you sign, not after, matters.
Most families sign without reading it. The provider hands it over, it looks official, care is needed now, and the document goes in a drawer. This is understandable. It is also the reason so many families end up surprised by fees, uncertain of their rights, or unsure whether what is happening is what they actually agreed to.
The good news: you don't have to sign it on the spot. Under the Aged Care Act 2024, your provider is legally required to give you enough time, information and support to make an informed decision. If a provider is rushing you, that pressure is itself a red flag — and it tells you something important about how they will operate once services begin.
Knowing what a compliant clause looks like is as useful as spotting a bad one. A good pricing section gives a price for each service and adds no separate administration, package management or travel fee. A good exit clause states a notice period, confirms no exit fee applies, and makes the final invoice scope clear.
"You may end this agreement at any time by giving 14 days' written notice. No exit fee or administration charge applies. Your final invoice will cover only services delivered up to your exit date."
What makes this compliant: no exit fee, notice period is specified, and the final invoice scope is clear. If your exit clause says anything materially different from this — particularly if it includes a fee or a minimum service period — do not sign.
A compliant Support at Home agreement should let you find eight things. These include a plain-language list of each service, its price, your contribution rate, the care plan review schedule and the complaints process. They also include your Statement of Rights, how to end the agreement, and how unspent funds are handled.
Work through this checklist before you sign. Each item should be present and written in language you can understand. If anything is missing, ask the provider to add it.
If the full checklist feels like too much, do three quick checks. One: check that each service has its own price, with no separate administration, package management or travel fee. Two: check the exit clause for any fee, charge, or lock-in. Three: confirm the service schedule names each service, its frequency, and timing. These catch the most common problems in five minutes.
Look at the prices. Each service should have its own price. There should be no separate administration, package management or travel fee. If you see one of these fees, ask the provider to remove it before you sign. The name on the fee doesn't matter. Equipment and home modifications are the exception. Their administration or coordination charge is allowed, but it's capped.
Find the section about ending the agreement. There should be no exit fee, no administration charge for leaving, and no minimum service period. If any of these appear, do not sign until they are removed.
Find the list of services. Each service should be named specifically — the type of service, how often, and approximately when. A schedule that says "services as agreed from time to time" is not specific enough. Ask for it to be updated before you sign.
Finding a problem after signing isn't irreversible. Write to the provider naming the clause you believe is unlawful and ask for confirmation in writing. Contact OPAN for free, independent advocacy on 1800 700 600. For serious breaches like an exit fee, lodge a complaint with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822.
A service agreement that isn't being followed is a contract breach. Start by raising it in writing with the provider. If that doesn't resolve it, the escalation guide walks through the full process — written complaints, OPAN advocacy, and ACQSC referral step by step.
Contact OPAN on 1800 700 600. The ACQSC now has explicit power to investigate overcharging and order refunds. Lodge a complaint at agedcarequality.gov.au or on 1800 951 822. Keep all records — your original agreement, any invoices, and all written communication with the provider.
Sometimes a bad agreement is a symptom, not the cause — the provider isn't the right fit. You can switch Support at Home providers at any time, and the process is more straightforward than most families expect. Understanding your funding entitlements first makes any renegotiation or switch easier.
If you're thinking about switching, see How to Switch Your Support at Home Provider for the step-by-step, including what happens to your funding and how to switch without a service gap. For guidance on choosing a replacement provider and what questions to ask before you commit, see How to Choose a Home Care Provider.
Already receiving services
Raise it with your provider in writing first. If that does not fix it, OPAN (the Older Persons Advocacy Network) gives free, independent and confidential advocacy on 1800 700 600. You can also make a complaint to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822.
Contact OPAN — free, independent help →New to these terms? See the full glossary →
Under the Aged Care Rules 2025, a service agreement must include: a plain-language description of services; the price of each service; your individual contribution rate or a process for including it once confirmed; how and when your care plan will be reviewed (at minimum annually); the complaint and feedback process; your rights under the Statement of Rights; how to end the agreement and required notice period; and how unspent funds are handled.
No. Exit fees are prohibited under Support at Home. If your service agreement includes any fee for leaving — regardless of what it is called — do not sign until it is removed. If you have already signed, contact OPAN on 1800 700 600.
Care management isn't a fee your provider sets up to a limit. For everyone getting ongoing Support at Home services, 10% of each quarterly budget goes to care management. It's set aside before services are delivered. It goes into a shared pool for all the provider's clients. Your monthly statement shows care management in hours or units, not as a percentage. So there's no fee percentage for you to check. In the agreement, check there's no separate administration, package management or travel fee for your services.
It depends. If you're transitioning from a Home Care Package, you have up to 90 days to sign after Services Australia confirms your contribution rate, and services continue meanwhile. New participants sign before or on the day services start. Either way, your provider must give you enough time and support to decide.
If you're transitioning from a Home Care Package, services continue while you finalise the new agreement (up to 90 days). If you're a new participant, the agreement must be in place before or on the day services start. Either way, you're entitled to time to read and understand it.
Contact OPAN on 1800 700 600. OPAN provides free, independent advocacy. For serious breaches, you can also lodge a complaint with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission at agedcarequality.gov.au or on 1800 951 822.
No. There is no lawful lock-in mechanism under Support at Home. You have the right to switch providers at any time. Any clause specifying a minimum period or exit penalty is unlawful.
At least once every 12 months under the Aged Care Rules 2025, or when you request a review. If the agreement sets a longer interval or omits care plan reviews, ask the provider to correct it.
This is acceptable while Services Australia is confirming your rate. But the agreement should explain the process — that you'll receive your rate in writing and have an opportunity to review it before it's applied. If the agreement is silent on this, ask the provider to add the explanation.
Signing a provider agreement soon? Read this before you sign.
Our free provider guide covers what to ask a provider and what to check in the agreement before you sign. Independent — no commissions.
Read the free provider guide →This guide is for information only — not legal, medical, or financial advice. Support at Home operates under the Aged Care Act 2024 and Aged Care Rules 2025. Check myagedcare.gov.au for current rates and rules.