Last updated: 25 September 2026
Your Support at Home classification gives you a quarterly budget. But what does that number actually mean in practice — how many hours of help does it pay for?
This guide breaks that down. It also covers the personal care change from 1 October 2026: approved personal care attracts no contribution, but it is still paid from your budget, so it does not free up budget for other services.
These figures apply from 1 October 2026 and are indexed each July. Ten per cent of each quarterly budget is automatically deducted for care management — the quarterly budget column below is the total before that deduction, and the next column shows what is left.
| Classification | Quarterly budget | After 10% care management |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,758 | $2,482 |
| 2 | $4,121 | $3,709 |
| 3 | $5,645 | $5,081 |
| 4 | $7,632 | $6,869 |
| 5 | $10,202 | $9,182 |
| 6 | $12,365 | $11,129 |
| 7 | $14,944 | $13,450 |
| 8 | $20,074 | $18,066 |
From 1 October 2026. Indexed each July — check the Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for current figures after July 2027.
Service prices vary by provider. Government price caps were planned for 1 July 2026 but were paused in May 2026, so providers still set their own prices. The figures below use the Department's national median prices for weekday services (November to December 2025): $115 an hour for personal care and $110 for cleaning. Your provider's prices may be higher or lower, so treat the hours as a guide to scale, not a quote.
Clinical services cost more per hour. The medians are $180 an hour for a registered nurse, $194 for physiotherapy and $222 for occupational therapy. The whole price of every service comes out of the budget, including any contribution you pay.
About $191 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 1.5 hours a week of personal care or cleaning.
About $285 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 2.5 hours a week of personal care or cleaning.
About $391 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 3.5 hours a week of personal care or cleaning.
About $528 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 4.5 hours a week of personal care or 5 hours of cleaning.
About $706 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 6 hours a week of personal care or 6.5 hours of cleaning.
About $856 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 7.5 hours a week of personal care or 8 hours of cleaning.
About $1,035 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 9 hours a week of personal care or 9.5 hours of cleaning.
About $1,390 a week is left for services. At the median prices, that buys about 12 hours a week of personal care or 12.5 hours of cleaning.
A budget can also pay for a mix of services. At Classification 3, for example, one hour of cleaning a week leaves about $281 a week, which pays for about 2.5 hours of personal care.
Hours are worked out from each budget after the 10% for care management, spread over 13 weeks, at the median weekday price for each service. Prices: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, National summary of Support at Home prices, November to December 2025.
From 1 October 2026, personal care moves into the Clinical Supports contribution category. If it is approved in your support plan and there is funding available, you pay no contribution for it, whatever your income. Personal care covers showering, non-clinical continence management, dressing, eating, personal hygiene and help taking your own medication.
What this means in practice: personal care is still paid from your Support at Home budget. If your provider charges, say, $1,500 a quarter for your personal care, that $1,500 still comes out of your budget, so it does not free up money for other services. What changes is that you no longer pay a contribution on it.
Two conditions for paying no contribution on personal care:
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 aged care assessment 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 after the 10% for care management comes out — whichever is greater — to the next quarter. Carryover is there to cover unplanned or emerging needs. Equipment and home modifications have their own separate AT-HM funding.
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.
If an assessment is coming up
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Prepare for the assessment — 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.