Participant Contributions and Means Testing Explained

What is a participant contribution under Support at Home?

A participant contribution is the share of a service cost that you pay yourself. The government pays the rest. Not everyone pays the same amount, and for some services you pay nothing at all.

Support at Home (often shortened to SaH) is the Australian Government program for help at home. It began on 1 November 2025. It funds things like personal care, help around the house, nursing and equipment so that older people can stay living at home.

The shift from Home Care Packages to Support at Home

Before November 2025, the main program was the Home Care Package, which used four funding levels and bundled most costs together. Support at Home replaced it. The new program works differently. It uses eight classifications (1 is the lowest funding, 8 is the highest), and the amount you pay now depends on which kind of service you use.

This is an important change. Under the old program, many people thought of their fees as one lump. Under Support at Home, your share is decided service by service.

Contribution, not a flat fee: why your share varies

Your contribution is not a fixed bill that arrives each month. It is a percentage of the cost of certain services, and that percentage depends on your finances. Two people next door to each other can pay very different amounts for the same hour of help.

Because clinical care is fully funded, a person who mostly needs nursing may pay little or nothing. Someone who mostly needs help with cleaning and shopping may pay a larger share.

Key words explained: participant contribution, means test, classification

Here are the terms you will keep seeing:

• Participant contribution (sometimes called a client contribution): your share of a service cost.
• Means test: a check of your income and assets that decides how big your share is.
• Classification: the funding band (1 to 8) you are placed in after assessment. It sets your budget, not your contribution rate.

Which services are free and which ones you help pay for

Support at Home sorts services into groups. The group a service sits in decides whether you contribute, and how much.

Clinical services funded in full (nursing and allied health)

Clinical services are funded in full within your budget. You pay no participant contribution for them. This group covers things like:

• Nursing care
• Physiotherapy and other allied health
• Care from health professionals tied to a medical need

The reasoning is simple. Clinical care keeps people well and out of hospital, so the government does not ask you to chip in for it.

Care management is also a government-funded clinical support. You are not asked to contribute to it.

Independence and everyday-living services that may carry a contribution

Other services may carry a participant contribution. These usually fall into two broad groups. Independence services help you stay active and capable, such as personal care. Everyday-living services are practical help, such as cleaning, gardening, meal preparation and transport.

Everyday-living help generally attracts the largest contribution, because it is the kind of support many people would pay for privately anyway. Independence services usually sit somewhere in between.

How service type, not need, decides your share

It helps to picture two columns. One column is what is wrong (your need). The other is what kind of help fixes it (the service type). Your contribution is decided by the second column.

So a nurse changing a wound dressing is fully funded, while a worker helping with the weekly shop may carry a contribution, even though both matter to your wellbeing.

How the means test decides what you pay

The means test is run by the government. It looks at your money, not your health, and it sets the size of your share for the services that carry a contribution.

Income and assets: what gets counted

An income and assets assessment looks at things like your pension, other income, savings and investments. The family home is treated under special rules. How it is counted depends on your circumstances, so confirm your situation with Services Australia.

The result is a personal contribution rate. People with lower means generally pay a smaller share. People with higher means generally pay more.

Why two people with the same classification can pay different amounts

Your classification (1 to 8) sets how much funding flows into your budget. It does not set your contribution. So two people in the same classification, with the same budget, can still pay different amounts, because their income and assets differ.

This catches many families by surprise. A higher classification means more funded hours, not a bigger personal bill.

How your contribution comes out of your quarterly budget

Support at Home budgets are managed in quarterly periods. When you use a service that carries a contribution, your share and the government's share are both drawn against that quarterly budget. You can ask your provider for a simple statement showing what was funded and what you contributed.

If you want a fuller picture of the fees and shares inside a quarter, see our guide on where your Support at Home money actually goes.

Where to get your income assessment

You do not arrange the means test through your provider. The government handles it, and two bodies are involved.

Services Australia and My Aged Care: who does what

My Aged Care is the government's front door for aged care. You start there to be assessed for your care needs and your classification. Phone 1800 200 422 or visit myagedcare.gov.au.

Your care needs are assessed by an assessor. Higher needs are usually assessed through ACAT (the Aged Care Assessment Team). Lower needs may go through a regional assessment service. Your money side, the income and assets check, is handled by Services Australia.

How to request an assessment and what to have ready

To get moving, contact My Aged Care first. When it is time for the income and assets assessment, it helps to have:

• Your Medicare and pension details
• Recent income information
• A list of savings, investments and other assets
• Details of any partner, since couples are assessed together

Keeping these handy means fewer delays and a smoother result.

What happens if you choose not to be assessed

You can decline the income and assets assessment. If you do, the government may treat you as able to pay the higher end of the contribution scale for services that carry a contribution. For many people, completing the assessment is the cheaper path.

Other costs to factor in

Contributions are only part of the cost picture. A few other items are worth knowing before you compare providers.

The Care Management fee (capped at 10% of your quarterly budget)

Every Support at Home participant has a Care Management fee. It is taken from your quarterly budget and is capped at 10% of your quarterly budget. It is a set program deduction, not a rate your provider negotiates with you. This pays for the ongoing oversight of your care: reviews, coordination and keeping your plan on track. Under Support at Home there is no separate package management fee on top, which was a feature of the old system.

The 10% self-management loading if you self-manage

You can self-manage your Support at Home. That means you choose your own worker from the local community, agree a price with them, and your provider onboards that worker to meet Commonwealth standards. Self-managing adds a 10% self-management loading. It covers worker checks, workforce assurance and paying invoices.

Self-managed rates are often close to everyday market rates, so even with the loading, many families find self-management keeps more of the budget working on actual care.

Self-managed versus full-service prices for everyday help

The other model is full service. Here the provider employs the workers and gives you a fixed price list, often with extra coordination built in. Full-service hourly rates for everyday services typically sit 50% to 100% above the matching self-managed rate.

Neither model is automatically better. Self-management suits people who like to organise things and want lower rates. Full service suits people who would rather hand the coordination over. To see real numbers side by side, compare home care prices in your area or browse Support at Home services. Your classification sets the budget that funds either choice, which you can read about in our guide to your Support at Home classification.

Questions about this topic

Is Support at Home means tested?

Partly. Clinical services such as nursing and allied health are funded in full, with no contribution. Everyday-living and independence services can carry a participant contribution. The size of that contribution is set by a means test of your income and assets, run by Services Australia.

Do I have to pay for nursing under Support at Home?

No. Clinical care, including nursing and allied health, is funded in full within your budget. You pay no participant contribution for these services, regardless of your income or assets.

How is my Support at Home contribution calculated?

It is based on an income and assets assessment by Services Australia. That assessment sets your personal contribution rate, which is then applied as a share of the cost of services that carry a contribution. Your classification (1 to 8) sets your budget, not your contribution rate.

Who works out my Support at Home contribution, my provider or the government?

The government. Services Australia runs the income and assets assessment that sets your share. Your provider applies that share when it bills services and shows you the funded and contributed amounts, but it does not decide the rate itself.

What happens if I do not complete an income assessment?

You can decline the assessment. If you do, the government may treat you as able to pay the higher end of the contribution scale for services that carry a contribution. Completing the assessment is often the cheaper option, so it is usually worth doing.

See what care costs in your area

Knowing the rules is the first step. The next is seeing real prices. You can compare home care prices in your area or call Trilogy Care on 1300 318 723 to talk it through. HomeCare Prices is operated by Trilogy Care, which is listed and ranked on this site by the same method as every other provider.