By Steve Hadfield, AgedCareActionPlan.au · Last reviewed: 9 October 2026
Last updated: 9 October 2026
On 1 November 2025, everyone with a Home Care Package moved to Support at Home automatically. A fact sheet written before then describes rules that no longer apply. A current one answers two separate questions, and two different dates decide them. This fact sheet is part of our guide to what happens after Support at Home approval.
Which budget? It depends on whether the person had a Home Care Package, or approval for one, by 31 October 2025. If so, their budget is a Transitioned HCP Level matching that package level. If not, it's one of 8 Support at Home classifications. Former package holders keep their Transitioned HCP Level unless a reassessment gives them a classification with more funding.
Which contribution rules? It depends on 12 September 2024. People receiving or approved for a Home Care Package on or before that date are covered by the No Worse Off Principle. They pay the same as, or less than, they would have paid under Home Care Packages, with a lifetime cap of $88,934.57. Everyone else pays standard rates, with a lifetime cap of $140,652.80.
The dates don't line up. Someone approved for a package between 13 September 2024 and 31 October 2025 has a transitioned budget but pays standard rates. Find your row below. For how the program changed, see Home Care Packages and what replaced them.
| Your situation | Budget | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving, or approved for, a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024 | Transitioned HCP Level, kept unless a reassessment gives a classification with more funding | No Worse Off Principle; lifetime cap $88,934.57 |
| Approved for a Home Care Package from 13 September 2024 to 31 October 2025 | Transitioned HCP Level, kept unless a reassessment gives a classification with more funding | Standard rates; lifetime cap $140,652.80 |
| First approved for ongoing Support at Home from 1 November 2025 | One of 8 Support at Home classifications | Standard rates; lifetime cap $140,652.80 |
They didn't convert one to one. Each Home Care Package level carried over as its own Transitioned HCP Level, with the same funding level as before. The eight classifications are a separate scale for people assessed under Support at Home. Both scales went up on 1 October 2026. These are the amounts now.
| Old package | Support at Home classification | Quarterly budget | Annual amount | Moves to a classification only if the result is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCP Level 1 | Transitioned HCP Level 1 | $2,823.55 | $11,294.22 | Classification 2 or higher |
| HCP Level 2 | Transitioned HCP Level 2 | $4,965.14 | $19,860.56 | Classification 3 or higher |
| HCP Level 3 | Transitioned HCP Level 3 | $10,808.30 | $43,233.21 | Classification 6 or higher |
| HCP Level 4 | Transitioned HCP Level 4 | $16,385.99 | $65,543.98 | Classification 8 |
| Classification | Quarterly budget | Annual amount |
|---|---|---|
| Classification 1 | $2,757.89 | $11,031.56 |
| Classification 2 | $4,120.89 | $16,483.55 |
| Classification 3 | $5,645.23 | $22,580.93 |
| Classification 4 | $7,632.04 | $30,528.15 |
| Classification 5 | $10,202.32 | $40,809.27 |
| Classification 6 | $12,365.48 | $49,461.91 |
| Classification 7 | $14,944.20 | $59,776.80 |
| Classification 8 | $20,073.50 | $80,294.00 |
The scales don't line up: a Transitioned HCP Level 3 budget sits between the Classification 5 and Classification 6 budgets.
You can stay on a Transitioned HCP Level indefinitely. The Department's Aged Care Assessment Manual says a reassessment replaces it only with a classification at a higher level: the last column of the Transitioned HCP Level table above shows which. If the assessment points to a lower classification, or to CHSP, the transitioned level is kept. If you do move to a classification, you keep your unspent package funds, and No Worse Off contribution rates stay too. To ask for a reassessment, talk to your provider or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. Our free carer statement tool helps you prepare.
The Manual says assessors must keep the transitioned level when that is more beneficial to you. If a reassessment's Notice of Decision gives you a classification with less funding than your transitioned level, ask for a review in writing within 28 days of receiving it, for example by email to agedcarereviews@health.gov.au. The request must set out your reasons, and the Department can allow more time for a late request. Our guide on how to appeal your aged care classification explains the steps.
These are full budgets. When waits run longer than expected, someone waiting for funding may be given interim funding first: 60% of their budget. That includes people approved for a package who were still waiting on 31 October 2025. People in the urgent priority category always get full funding. The rest is added when funding becomes available, and it isn't backdated.
[Department, classifications and budgets (October 2026); Aged Care Assessment Manual (29 June 2026), s1.5.1, Table 2 and s11.2; My Aged Care, FAQ and rights page; program manual v4.4, s6.8.1, s9.3.1 and s9.4.1; interim funding not backdated: Department, funding classifications page]
They were kept. Unspent funds in your Home Care Package on 31 October 2025 came with you to Support at Home. You can use them for approved assistive technology and home modifications, and for ongoing services once your quarterly budget has been used in full. The Department says there are no caps on how much of them you can use.
They're separate from the quarterly carryover, and they come in two parts. The Commonwealth (government) portion has no carryover limit and moves with you if you change provider: any part your provider holds goes back to Services Australia and is added to your home care account. Nothing paid entirely from it attracts a contribution. The participant portion is held by your provider and used to pay your contributions. If you change provider or leave Support at Home, it must be paid back to you within 70 days of the exit date. Your monthly statement must show the total.
[Department, classifications and budgets, page 3; funding classifications page (no carryover limit); program manual v4.4, s9.3.1, s12.3.3 and s17.2]
It's the Department's official list of the rates paid under Support at Home: the basic subsidy for each classification and Transitioned HCP Level, the supplements, and the AT-HM scheme. Budgets and some supplements rose on 1 October 2026, so a new schedule applies from that date. The Department's schedule page is dated 22 September 2026.
The increase helps providers pay higher award wages to registered and enrolled aged care nurses, which apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 August 2026. It covers the subsidy rate for Classifications 1 to 8 and Transitioned HCP Levels 1 to 4, and new End-of-Life and Restorative Care Pathway starts. It also covers the Veterans, Dementia and Cognition, Oxygen, Enteral Feeding, Top-up and Care Management Supplements.
The increase doesn't change your classification. A provider that wants to raise nursing prices must discuss it with you, explain why and get your agreement first. Primary supplements, for oxygen, enteral feeding and veterans, are added to a person's budget once approved. The dementia and cognition and EACH-D top-up supplements continue only for former package holders who were receiving them at 31 October 2025.
Find the schedule on the Department's Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Support at Home page: the schedule from 1 October 2026 is listed first. For budgets alone, the Department's classifications and budgets fact sheet is easier to read.
[Department, Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements page; nurses’ award wage increase page; My Aged Care, funding changes from 1 October 2026; program manual v4.4, s9.3.2]
Mostly, it's an old name for Support at Home funding. Home Care Package recipients moved to Support at Home on 1 November 2025, and the old levels live on only as Transitioned HCP Levels 1 to 4. Anyone first approved for ongoing Support at Home from 1 November 2025 gets one of the 8 classifications.
Alongside the 8 ongoing classifications and the 4 transitioned ones, there are 3 short-term supports: the Restorative Care Pathway, the End-of-Life Pathway and the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme.
People approved for a package but still waiting on 31 October 2025 moved to the Support at Home Priority System. When a place becomes available, they get funding equivalent to the package level they were approved for, possibly as 60% interim funding first.
The Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), for entry-level help at home, is a separate program. In August 2026 the Department announced it has been extended to 30 June 2029.
[Department, classifications and budgets and Support at Home program page; program manual v4.4, s5.1, s6.7.2 and s6.8.1]
Check five things: budget dates, personal care, lifetime caps, price caps, and fees that can no longer be charged. Current budgets apply from 1 October 2026. If it fails a check, use the Department's October 2026 fact sheet for budgets and My Aged Care's Support at Home costs and contributions page for contributions.
[Department, classifications and budgets, personal care contributions page and consumer protections news (20 May 2026) and fact sheet (May 2026); My Aged Care, changes to contributions; program manual v4.4, s9.4.1 and s10.3]
There's no one-for-one replacement. Home Care Package fact sheets describe the rules before 1 November 2025. The current rules are spread across a handful of Department and My Aged Care documents. Here's which one to read for each question, and how recent it is.
| Your question | Read this | Date |
|---|---|---|
| How much is the budget? | Support at Home program – classifications and budgets (Department fact sheet) | October 2026 |
| What are the official subsidy and supplement rates? | Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Support at Home (Department) | Schedule from 1 October 2026 |
| What will I pay? | Support at Home costs and contributions (My Aged Care) | Amounts current as of 1 October 2026 |
| Can my contributions change, and what are the lifetime caps? | Changes to contributions while accessing Support at Home (My Aged Care) | Caps as at 20 September 2026 |
| What can a provider charge? | Consumer protections for Support at Home prices (Department fact sheet) | May 2026 |
| What changed for personal care? | Personal care contributions (Department) | Updated 21 August 2026 |
| What are the full program rules? | Support at Home program manual (Department, written for providers) | September 2026 (version 4.4) |
It depends on the type of service, your income and assets, and when you were approved. People receiving or approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024 pay under the No Worse Off Principle. Everyone else pays standard Support at Home rates. Clinical supports such as nursing have no contribution.
Each contribution is a percentage of the service's price, and the government pays the rest to your provider. Services Australia works out your rates and writes to you with your rate for each service category. Tell Services Australia within 28 days about any change to your finances that could affect your contribution. This is general information, not advice about your situation.
The No Worse Off Principle covers people who, on or before 12 September 2024, were receiving a Home Care Package, were on the National Priority System, or had been assessed as eligible for a package. It protects what you pay, not your budget level: it applies only to contributions and primary supplements. If you were assessed as not having to pay an income-tested care fee at 31 October 2025, you will never be asked to pay contributions under Support at Home. That includes every grandfathered full pensioner. If you were assessed as having to pay it, you pay the same or less. If you hadn't started a package by then, Services Australia contacts you for income information when you begin receiving services, and the rates below apply.
| Income and assets outcome | Clinical supports | Independence | Everyday living |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full pensioner | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Part pensioner, or self-funded CSHC holder | 0% | 0% to 25% | 0% to 25% |
| Self-funded, no CSHC, or means not disclosed | 0% | 25% | 25% |
Your rate is worked out on income only, with a fortnightly cap as extra protection, and you keep it even if you're reassessed to a higher classification. Your lifetime cap is $88,934.57 as at 20 September 2026. It's the old Home Care Package lifetime cap, and it stays with you if you later move into an aged care home.
Standard rates apply to everyone approved after 12 September 2024, for a Home Care Package or for Support at Home. That includes people approved for a package up to 31 October 2025, who have a Transitioned HCP Level budget.
| Income and assets outcome | Clinical supports | Independence | Everyday living |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full pensioner | 0% | 5% | 17.5% |
| Part pensioner, or self-funded CSHC holder | 0% | 5% to 50% | 17.5% to 80% |
| Self-funded, no CSHC, or means not disclosed | 0% | 50% | 80% |
Pensioners' rates use their pension assessment details. Non-pensioners need an income and assets assessment if Services Australia doesn't have their current details; skip it and you pay the maximum rate.
Your lifetime cap is $140,652.80 as at 20 September 2026. It's a combined cap: contributions you pay at home also count towards it if you move into an aged care home.
Estimate your contributions with the government's Support at Home fee estimator. If you face genuine financial hardship, you can apply to Services Australia for hardship assistance. For advice about your own money, see a licensed aged care financial adviser. Our guide to Support at Home contribution rates explains each rate.
Because the No Worse Off Principle kept the old Home Care Package lifetime cap for people approved on or before 12 September 2024. Everyone else has the standard cap, which is shared with the non-clinical care contribution in residential aged care. Both are indexed on 20 March and 20 September; the next indexation is on 20 March 2027. Once you reach your cap, you pay no more Support at Home contributions, and Services Australia writes to you and your provider.
Under Support at Home, 10% of every ongoing quarterly budget is set aside for care management, pooled across the provider's participants and shown on your monthly statement as hours, not dollars. Package management, administration and travel costs didn't go away: they must sit inside each service's price, and providers can't charge them as separate fees. Our home care package management fees guide explains what you can check instead.
[Program manual v4.4, s8.8, s8.8.2, s9.4, s9.4.1, s9.5, s10.3, s10.3.1 and s17.2; My Aged Care, costs and contributions and changes to contributions; Department, participant contributions page and consumer protections fact sheet]
Services from the Support at Home service list that meet the person's assessed needs. They fall into three contribution categories: clinical supports, independence and everyday living. Ongoing budgets come quarterly with a limited carryover, and equipment and home modifications are funded separately through the AT-HM scheme.
Most people choose from the services approved at their assessment. Former package holders who haven't been reassessed can use any service on the list that meets their needs, plus assistive technology and home modifications.
Your annual budget is split into 4 quarterly budgets, and the full quarterly amount is available from the start of each quarter. Join part-way through a quarter and you get a pro-rata amount. Services Australia holds the budget on your behalf.
Unused budget carries over to the next quarter up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, whichever is higher. That limit is worked out after the 10% for care management comes out, and anything above it doesn't carry over. Carryover applies only to ongoing services. Unspent Home Care Package funds are separate and have no such limit.
Assistive technology and home modifications are funded upfront through the AT-HM scheme, separate from your ongoing budget, so you don't need to save up for them. With an assessed need, you're allocated a low, medium or high funding tier, usually for 12 months, through separate priority systems.
Former package holders have a transitional AT-HM approval with no separate funding allocation, and the Commonwealth portion of their unspent package funds must be used first. If there's none of that Commonwealth portion left, or not enough, the provider can refer them, with their consent, for a Support Plan Review by an aged care needs assessor. Our AT-HM guide explains the tiers.
[Program manual v4.4, s5.1, s9.3.1.4, s9.7.1 and s10.2.1; Department, classifications and budgets and personal care contributions page; My Aged Care, costs and contributions]
It's how long a Services Australia contribution-rates letter lasts if you get it before signing a service agreement. New participants can have their income and assets assessed first; the program manual says this letter “is valid for 120 days.” Until then, providers can use it as notice of your rates, unless your finances change significantly.
The manual doesn't say what date the 120 days run from, so check the date on your letter. Funding waits can be longer: My Aged Care estimates 5 to 6 months at medium priority and 7 to 8 months at standard priority (updated 30 June 2026). If your letter may have lapsed, call the Services Australia aged care line on 1800 227 475 before you sign.
No rates yet when services start? You and your provider can agree an interim rate. Once your rate is final, Services Australia backdates it to the day you entered Support at Home, and your provider refunds or recovers the difference.
The other clock is 56 days, from the date funding is allocated. That comes with your funding assignment letter, not your assessment outcome letter, and the 56 days count from the allocation date, not the day the letter arrives. If you're given interim funding first, it comes with its own letter and starts the 56 days, so don't wait for the rest. In those 56 days you need to find a provider, enter a service agreement and start services. You can ask My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 for a 28-day extension, making 84 days.
Your provider must also send your start details to Services Australia within the same 56 days (84 with an extension), or the funding can be withdrawn, so don't leave it to the last week. If services haven't started by then, the funding is withdrawn and you're removed from the Support at Home Priority System. If you re-join, your original approval date is kept, and you won't need a new assessment unless your needs have changed. Our 56-day window guide walks through it, and our Support at Home waiting times guide covers the wait before it.
[Program manual v4.4, s6.8.1.1, s6.9, s7.4 and s9.5.1; Aged Care Assessment Manual, 29 June 2026, Table 53; My Aged Care, assessment outcome (wait estimates) and personal care news (aged care line)]
Two things. Personal care moved into the clinical supports contribution category, so approved personal care has no contribution if funds are available, but it's still paid from your budget. And budgets and some supplements went up, for Transitioned HCP Levels and classifications alike, to fund higher award wages for aged care nurses.
Personal care includes help with showering, non-clinical continence management, dressing, eating, personal hygiene and taking your own medication. It must be approved in your support plan, with funds available, and each hour still uses budget. Care delivered before 1 October 2026 still attracts a contribution, even if claimed later. You don't need to do anything.
Grandfathered full pensioners see no change: their rates were already 0%. If contributions held you back from personal care, your provider can help you update your care plan and budget.
Price caps are a different story. The Government paused its planned price caps in May 2026, and providers still set their own prices. Prices must reflect the cost of delivering the service, and providers can't charge entry or exit fees. If the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission finds a price unreasonable, it can issue a compliance notice, which can require the provider to correct the price and refund overcharges.
More in our guide to the Support at Home changes from 1 October 2026.
[Department, personal care contributions page, nurses’ award wage increase page, consumer protections news (20 May 2026) and fact sheet (May 2026); My Aged Care, personal care news; program manual v4.4, s9.4.1.1 and s10.3]
Support at Home. Everyone with a Home Care Package moved to Support at Home automatically on 1 November 2025. Former package holders have a Transitioned HCP Level from 1 to 4, with the same funding level as their old package, unless a reassessment has given them a classification with more funding. People approved for ongoing Support at Home get one of 8 classifications. What you pay depends on whether you were receiving or approved for a package on or before 12 September 2024.
Not if it's a Home Care Package fact sheet: those describe the rules before 1 November 2025. Check the date on any figures: current amounts apply from 1 October 2026. For budget amounts, use the Department's classifications and budgets fact sheet (October 2026); for contributions, use My Aged Care's Support at Home costs and contributions page.
From 1 October 2026, a Transitioned HCP Level budget ranges from $11,294.22 a year (Level 1) to $65,543.98 a year (Level 4). The 8 Support at Home classifications range from $11,031.56 a year (Classification 1) to $80,294.00 a year (Classification 8). Both include funding for care management. Which scale applies depends on whether you had a Home Care Package, or approval for one, by 31 October 2025, unless a reassessment has since given you a classification with more funding.
A former Level 4 Home Care Package is now Transitioned HCP Level 4. From 1 October 2026, its budget is $16,385.99 a quarter, or $65,543.98 a year, including funding for care management. It changes each July with indexation. A reassessment replaces it only with Classification 8, which is $80,294.00 a year; any lower outcome keeps Transitioned HCP Level 4.
The lower cap, $88,934.57, applies to people who were receiving or approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024, under the No Worse Off Principle. Everyone else has the standard cap of $140,652.80, which is shared with the non-clinical care contribution in residential aged care. Both are current as at 20 September 2026 and are next indexed on 20 March 2027. Once you reach your cap, you pay no more Support at Home contributions.
No, the move was automatic. Former Home Care Package recipients were approved for Support at Home with the same funding level as before. If Services Australia asks for your income and asset details, reply: if you don't, you pay the maximum rate that applies to you. Services Australia tells you your contribution rates by letter, and your monthly statement shows your budget and any unspent package funds. If your needs have grown, ask your provider about a reassessment or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.
Yes. Unspent Home Care Package funds held on 31 October 2025 were kept. They can pay for approved assistive technology and home modifications, and for ongoing services once the quarterly budget is used up. No carryover limit applies to them. The Commonwealth (government) portion moves with you if you change provider, and the participant portion your provider holds is paid back to you. They are separate from the quarterly carryover, which is capped at $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly budget, whichever is higher.
Gather four documents: your assessment outcome letter, your funding assignment letter, your Services Australia contribution letter and your latest monthly statement. Together they show which budget and which contribution rules apply, and when each clock runs out. If something doesn't match this fact sheet, ask your provider first, then My Aged Care.
If you moved across from a Home Care Package and haven't been reassessed, you may not have Support at Home versions of the first two letters: your move to a Transitioned HCP Level was automatic. Your monthly statement shows your budget.
Not sure whether the No Worse Off Principle applies? For most people, a first approval date on or before 12 September 2024 means it does; your provider can see that date in the My Aged Care portal. If needs have outgrown the budget, a reassessment may lead to a higher classification. Prepare with our free carer statement tool.
Sources for this fact sheet
We check this fact sheet each July, when budgets are indexed, whenever a new Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements is published, and at each lifetime cap indexation (next: 20 March 2027). If a figure here doesn't match a current government source, let us know.
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 →
Needs gone up? A reassessment can change the level.
If more help is needed than the budget covers, a reassessment looks at the level again (officially, the classification). Our free tool helps you write down what really happens at home, so the assessor hears the full picture. Independent — no sales calls.
Prepare for the reassessment — free →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.