What home care funds can — and can't — cover

At some point, almost every family hears the same thing from their provider: "That's not covered."

Sometimes it's true. The government has a list of services that cannot be funded under Support at Home — full stop, no exceptions. Rent. Prescription medications. Gambling. Buying a car. These are permanent government exclusions and no provider can override them.

But sometimes "not covered" means something else entirely. It means that particular service is not in that provider's catalogue. It's a commercial decision — what the provider has chosen to offer — not a government rule. The two situations look identical from the outside. Providers rarely explain which one applies. Most families never ask.

That distinction is the most important thing in this guide. Everything else follows from it.

New to all this? For the full picture of how Home Care Packages became Support at Home — and what changed — see our home care package guide.

How Support at Home funding is structured

Support at Home — which replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025 — organises every funded service into three categories. The category determines what the government pays and what, if anything, you contribute. See the full funding breakdown by classification →

Clinical Care — zero co-contribution

Clinical services are fully funded by the government for every participant regardless of income, assets, or classification level. You pay nothing.

This covers nursing and wound care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, podiatry, dietetics, and continence support. From 1 October 2026, personal care moves into the Clinical Supports contribution category: no contribution if it is approved in the support plan and funding is available. It is still paid from the Support at Home budget.

Independence Services — income-tested contribution

Independence services help a person manage daily routines safely at home. The government subsidises these; you contribute a portion based on income assessment by Services Australia. It includes transport to medical appointments, mobility aids, and home modifications including ramps and grab rails, and personal care delivered before 1 October 2026.

Everyday Living — highest contributions

Domestic assistance, meal preparation, cleaning, gardening, shopping assistance, and funded social programs fall here. These attract the highest co-contributions.

What the government has ruled out entirely

These are permanent exclusions. No provider, no care plan, no clinical justification can override them.

Rent and mortgage payments. The program funds care, not housing costs.

Prescription medications. Medications are covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. What can be funded is medication management — a nurse or support worker assisting with administration, organising prescriptions, or opening Webster packs. The clinical assistance is fundable. The medication itself is not.

General grocery shopping. Shopping as a living expense is excluded. Shopping assistance — a support worker accompanying you, or meal delivery through an approved service — can be funded when it's linked to an assessed need.

Entertainment and leisure with no care connection. Gambling, holiday club memberships, and entertainment tickets are excluded. Approved social support must be delivered through a recognised service.

Large asset purchases. Buying a car or general home renovations are excluded — with one important exception covered in the next section.

Services that fall under another government program. If a service is available through the NDIS, the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, or another government scheme, it won't be funded through Support at Home. The programs are designed to complement, not overlap.

When something that looks excluded isn't

The government's own service list states explicitly that the exclusions are not exhaustive. Context matters. An item that is normally outside scope can become fundable when it directly supports an assessed care need and is documented in the support plan.

The most concrete example is home modifications and equipment. Standard safety items — grab rails, ramps, handholds — are routinely funded. But the principle extends further. A recliner chair is furniture. If an occupational therapist has assessed that a specific chair position is necessary to manage a mobility or health condition, that chair becomes a clinical item with a documented care connection. The item hasn't changed. The justification has.

The same logic applies to larger modifications. A bathroom renovation is excluded. A bathroom modification — roll-in shower, lowered vanity, accessible fittings — recommended by an OT and documented in the support plan as a safety requirement, can be funded. It also draws from the AT-HM budget stream — a separate pool of funds that does not reduce your regular quarterly care hours budget.

The provider catalogue problem — and why it matters

Here is the situation that recurs in aged care families every week. Someone asks their provider whether a service is available. The provider says no. The family accepts this. The service goes unfunded for months or years.

In many of these cases, the government rules don't exclude the service at all. The provider simply doesn't offer it.

Providers are required under the Aged Care Act 2024 to publish the services they offer in their My Aged Care profile. There is no requirement to tell a participant when a service they've requested is absent from that provider's catalogue rather than absent from the rules. The distinction is almost never volunteered.

The objection most families have at this point is: "My provider would tell me if something was available." This is a reasonable assumption — and it's often wrong. Providers manage their own service profitability. A service that is fundable but operationally inconvenient to deliver may simply not appear in the offer. There is no obligation to flag what's missing.

Five funded services families commonly miss

These are legitimate funded services that are regularly not offered, not raised, or turned down without challenge.

1. Respite care

Funded under Independence Services. Gives the primary carer a break while the participant is supported by a trained worker. Regularly absent from care plans when nobody specifically requests it.

2. Social support programs

Funded under Everyday Living. Not informal outings — structured, facilitated programs with a documented care connection. Social isolation is a recognised contributor to health decline in older Australians, and the program is designed to address it. Many providers don't proactively offer this.

3. Allied health beyond physiotherapy

Occupational therapy, speech pathology, dietetics, and podiatry are all Clinical Care — zero co-contribution for every participant. Many families only encounter physiotherapy because it's the allied health service providers most commonly offer. The others are equally fundable and equally free.

4. Assistive technology through the AT-HM stream

Assistive technology and home modifications are funded through a separate budget stream — not your regular quarterly budget. A walking frame or bathroom modification does not reduce your care hours. It comes from a different pool. Many families decline AT-HM items assuming it will affect their services. It won't.

5. After-hours and weekend support

If after-hours or weekend support is in your assessed needs, it can be funded. Many providers don't offer it — which is a provider catalogue decision, not a program exclusion. If you need it and your current provider can't deliver it, that's a switching conversation, not an appeal.

See the full breakdown of what your support worker will and won't do →