By Steve Hadfield, AgedCareActionPlan.au · Last updated: 30 April 2026
Your Support at Home classification gives you a quarterly budget. But what does that number actually mean in practice — how many hours, how many visits, what kind of care?
This guide breaks that down. It also covers an important change coming 1 October 2026 that will free up budget for many people by moving personal care to zero co-contribution.
These figures are effective from 1 November 2025 and are indexed each July. Ten per cent of each quarterly budget is automatically deducted for care management — the amounts below are the total budget before that deduction.
| Classification | Quarterly budget | After 10% care management |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,683 | $2,415 |
| 2 | $4,009 | $3,608 |
| 3 | $5,491 | $4,942 |
| 4 | $7,424 | $6,682 |
| 5 | $9,924 | $8,932 |
| 6 | $12,029 | $10,826 |
| 7 | $14,537 | $13,083 |
| 8 | $19,527 | $17,574 |
Effective from 1 November 2025. Indexed each July — check the Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for current figures after July 2026.
Service prices vary by provider, and from 1 July 2026 price caps apply to most services. The ranges below are indicative — use them to understand the scale of what each classification can fund, not as a precise calculation.
A personal care worker typically costs $60–85 per hour before price caps. Allied health (physiotherapy, occupational therapy) typically runs $120–180 per hour. Nursing visits vary more widely.
Roughly 30–40 hours of domestic help over the quarter, or about 2–3 hours per week. Enough for light cleaning and occasional support. Not designed for personal care or clinical needs at this level.
Around 40–55 hours of domestic help and personal care over the quarter, or about 3–4 hours per week. Suitable for regular cleaning, meal preparation, and light personal care support.
Around 60–75 hours of personal care or domestic help, spread across the quarter. At three visits per week, that's approximately 5–6 hours per visit — or more realistically, 45-minute daily visits plus some weekly domestic help.
Near-daily personal care and regular domestic support. At current provider rates, this covers roughly 80–110 hours of personal care, or a combination of daily 30-minute personal care visits plus weekly cleaning plus occasional allied health.
Around 105–130 hours of personal care and domestic support over the quarter, or about 8–10 hours per week. Sufficient for daily personal care visits, regular domestic help, and some allied health. Suitable for people with complex personal care needs who require consistent daily support.
Covers complex daily care needs — personal care every day, regular nursing visits, and allied health. Enough for someone with significant mobility or health issues who is managing at home with substantial support.
Multiple daily visits from a coordinated care team. This level typically covers people who need help with all daily living tasks — feeding, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting — often due to advanced dementia or severe mobility limitations. Allied health, nursing, and personal care work together.
The most intensive Support at Home funding level. Designed for people with advanced, chronic or terminal illness who want to remain at home. Can support palliative care at home including nursing, daily care, specialised equipment, and overnight support. This level represents a significant increase from the old Level 4 Home Care Package (previously around $63,440 per year).
If personal care currently draws from your quarterly budget, this matters: from 1 October 2026, personal care moves from the Independence category to Clinical supports. That means showering, dressing and continence management will be fully government-funded — zero out-of-pocket, same as nursing or physiotherapy today.
What this means in practice: For a participant on Classification 3 currently spending, say, $1,500 per quarter on personal care, that $1,500 is freed up for other services from October 2026. Or it simply means no co-contribution on services they were previously paying a percentage toward.
Two conditions to access personal care at zero cost:
If personal care is already in your plan, this happens automatically. If it isn't, you need a support plan review first. Talk to your provider or contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.
A classification reflects your needs at the time of assessment. Needs change — through illness progression, a fall, a hospital admission, or simply the passage of time. If your quarterly budget runs out before the quarter ends, or your provider says there isn't enough funding for the care you need, you can request a reassessment.
Contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 or ask your provider to initiate the referral. There's no limit on how often you can be reassessed — what matters is whether your needs have changed.
If you've recently received a Notice of Decision, you have a 28-day review window to challenge your classification. See the IAT guide for how classifications are set and what the review process looks like.
If you don't use your full quarterly budget, you can roll over up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget — whichever is greater — to the next quarter. This is useful for saving toward a larger purchase like assistive equipment or a home modification.
Amounts above the carry-over limit don't accumulate. If you're consistently underspending, talk to your provider about whether your support plan is making full use of your classification.
Not sure if your classification matches your needs? Get a personalised Action Plan.
Need a complete personalised plan for your situation?
This guide is for information only — not legal, medical, or financial advice. Verified against the Aged Care Act 2024 and Aged Care Rules 2025. Check myagedcare.gov.au for current rates and rules.