Support at Home Funding and Costs: How the Money Works

What is Support at Home funding?

Support at Home is the Australian Government program that helps older people get care and support while they stay living at home. It started on 1 November 2025. The money behind it comes from the government, and it is paid to an approved provider who then arranges or delivers your care.

Support at Home in plain terms

Think of Support at Home funding as a pool of money set aside for your care each quarter. You do not receive cash in your bank account. Instead, the government holds the funding and your provider draws on it to pay for the services you use.

You still have a big say. You and your provider build a care plan together, then decide how the budget gets spent. Want more help with cleaning and less with transport? That is your call, within the rules.

How funding replaced the old packages

Before November 2025, home care funding came through Home Care Packages, which used four levels. Support at Home replaced that system. The new model uses eight classifications instead of four levels, and it changes how fees work. We explain the old system only so the change makes sense. The rest of this guide sticks to current Support at Home rules.

Who pays for what

Three parties can put money toward your care:

• The government. This is the main source. It funds your quarterly budget.
• You. For some services, you pay a participant contribution. A participant contribution is the share of a service cost you pay yourself, worked out by a means test.
• No one extra, for clinical care. Clinical services such as nursing are fully funded within your budget, with no contribution from you.

How your classification sets your funding

Your classification is the single biggest factor in how much funding you get. It is a number from 1 to 8 that reflects how much help you need.

The 8 classifications, from 1 to 8

There are eight classifications under Support at Home. Classification 1 carries the lowest funding and suits people who need a little help. Classification 8 carries the highest funding and suits people with complex, high care needs. Each step up the scale comes with a larger quarterly budget.

The idea is fairness. Someone who needs help only with the garden and a weekly clean sits low on the scale. Someone who needs daily personal care and regular nursing sits much higher. If you want the detail of each classification, read our guide on the 8 Support at Home classifications.

How an ACAT or RAS assessment decides your classification

Your classification is not chosen by you or your provider. It comes from an assessment.

You start by contacting My Aged Care, the government's front door for aged care. You can call 1800 200 422 or visit myagedcare.gov.au. They arrange an assessment of your needs.

For higher or more complex needs, an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) does the assessment. ACAT is a group of health professionals who review your health, your home and how you manage daily life. For lower needs, a Regional Assessment Service (RAS) handles it. The assessment leads to a recommended classification, and that classification sets your budget.

Can your classification change over time?

Yes. Needs change. If your health declines or your situation shifts, you can ask for a reassessment. A new assessment may move you to a higher classification with a larger budget. The reverse can also happen if your needs ease, though that is less common. The key point is that your classification is not locked in for life.

How the quarterly budget works

Support at Home funding is paid in quarters, not as one yearly lump. This shapes how you plan and spend.

What a quarterly budget is

A quarterly budget is the amount of funding available for your care across a three-month period. Your classification sets the size of it. At the start of each quarter, the budget refreshes.

Quarterly timing has a practical upside. It smooths your care across the year and helps avoid a rush to spend everything before a single annual deadline.

What your budget can pay for

Your budget covers approved services that help you stay safe and independent at home. These fall into broad groups:

• Clinical care, such as nursing and allied health (for example, physiotherapy).
• Independence support, such as personal care, help with showering, and getting around.
• Everyday living, such as cleaning, meal help, gardening and transport.

You and your provider decide the mix. For a fuller picture, browse the services your budget can cover on this site.

What the budget does not cover

The budget is for care and support, not general living costs. It will not pay your rent, your groceries, your usual utility bills or everyday household items you would buy anyway. It also will not fund holidays or things with no clear care purpose. If you are unsure whether something fits, ask your provider before you commit.

Your participant contribution and means testing

Whether you pay anything depends on the service and on your finances. Clinical care, such as nursing, is fully funded within your budget, so you pay nothing toward it. Independence and everyday-living services may carry a means-tested participant contribution, worked out from your income and assets, and people with lower means generally pay less. For the full walk-through of the means test, the rates and how the thresholds work, read our guide to participant contributions and means testing.

Fees that come out of your funding

A common worry is hidden fees. Support at Home is clearer than the old system here, but a few fees do apply. They come out of your funding rather than your pocket in most cases.

The Care Management fee explained

Every Support at Home arrangement includes care management. This is the work of planning your care, coordinating services, checking your plan still fits and adjusting it as needs change.

A Care Management fee is charged for this work. It is capped at 10% of your quarterly budget and comes out of the budget itself, so you do not pay it separately on top. This is a set program deduction, not a figure your provider negotiates. There is no longer a separate package management fee for administration on top of it. For the full detail, read our guide to the Care Management fee and self-management loading.

The 10% self-management loading

Support at Home lets you self-manage if you choose. Self-managing means you find your own support worker from your local community, agree a price with them, and your provider onboards that worker so they meet Commonwealth standards.

When you self-manage, a 10% self-management loading applies. It is not a profit grab. It covers real work: checking the worker is qualified and safe to provide care, handling the paperwork, and paying invoices on time.

Because you are sourcing workers yourself, self-managed rates often sit close to everyday market rates. The loading is added to that base.

Self-managed versus full-service pricing

There are two main ways to receive care, and they price differently. Read more in our guide to the self-managed and full-service models.

Full-service rates for everyday services usually sit 50% to 100% above the matching self-managed rate, based on typical provider price lists. You pay more per hour, but the provider does more of the work of finding, employing and managing the worker. Neither model is better for everyone. The right choice depends on how involved you want to be.

Unspent funds and rollover

People often fear that money not used in a quarter simply vanishes. The rules are kinder than that.

What happens to money you do not use

If you have a quiet quarter and do not spend your full budget, the leftover does not just disappear. Unused budget carries over to the next quarter, but the amount that can roll over is capped at the greater of $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget. Funds you transitioned across from an old Home Care Package are not capped. This protects you against losing funds because of a holiday, a hospital stay or a stretch when you needed less help.

Rollover limits and quarterly resets

Rollover is not unlimited. Each quarter, the amount of unspent funding that can carry forward is capped at the greater of $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget. Funds carried across from an old Home Care Package are not capped. At the start of each new quarter, your budget refreshes to its set amount, and the allowed portion of any unused funds is added on top.

The takeaway is simple. You will not lose every unspent dollar the moment a quarter ends, but you also cannot bank quarters indefinitely to fund one big spend much later.

Planning your spending across the year

A little planning helps you make the most of your funding. Talk with your provider about the rhythm of your year. If you know you will travel for a month, plan around it. If a season brings more need, such as help with heavier outdoor work, plan for that too. Steady, well-matched spending usually serves people better than large swings.

How to compare costs between providers

Prices differ between providers, and that surprises some people. Comparing well is the way to get good value.

Why hourly rates differ

Providers set their own prices for everyday services because the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has deferred price caps. That means rates can vary from one provider to the next for similar work. Differences can reflect a provider's costs, the model they use (self-managed or full-service), their location and the extra support they bundle in. Two quotes for an hour of cleaning can look quite different, so always compare like with like.

Reading a provider price list

When you look at a price list, check a few things:

• Is the rate for self-managed or full-service care?
• Are the Care Management fee and any self-management loading shown clearly?
• Does the rate change for weekends, evenings or public holidays?
• Are travel costs included or charged on top?

A clear price list makes these things easy to find. If a provider's pricing is hard to follow, that itself tells you something.

Using the government's indicative prices as a benchmark

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has published indicative prices for common services. These are indicative figures, not price caps or recommended prices, but they give you a benchmark to judge any quote against. If a rate sits well above the indicative price, it is fair to ask why. If it sits below, that is worth checking too, but look at the model and what is included before you decide.

Questions about this topic

How much funding do you get under Support at Home?

Your funding depends on your classification, a number from 1 (lowest) to 8 (highest) set by an assessment of your needs. Each classification comes with a set quarterly budget, paid by the government, that your provider draws on for your care. Higher classifications carry larger budgets. There is no single figure that applies to everyone.

Do you have to pay anything for Support at Home?

Sometimes. Clinical care such as nursing is fully funded within your budget, so you pay nothing toward it. Independence and everyday-living services may carry a means-tested participant contribution, which is worked out from your income and assets. People with lower means generally pay less, and some pay nothing toward those services.

What is the Care Management fee under Support at Home?

The Care Management fee pays for planning and coordinating your care, including reviewing and adjusting your plan over time. It is capped at 10% of your quarterly budget and comes out of the budget itself, not charged separately on top. It is a set program deduction, not a figure your provider negotiates. There is no longer a separate package management fee on top of it.

What happens to unspent Support at Home funds?

You do not automatically lose money you do not spend. Unspent funds can roll over into the next quarter, capped at the greater of $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget. Funds carried across from an old Home Care Package are not capped. Your budget refreshes each quarter, and the allowed carry-over is added on top. The cap means you cannot save up quarters without limit to fund one large purchase much later.

Can your Support at Home classification change?

Yes. If your needs change, you can ask for a reassessment through My Aged Care. A new assessment may move you to a higher classification with a larger budget, or to a lower one if your needs ease. Your classification is not fixed for life, so it can keep pace with your health.

See what care costs in your area

The clearest way to understand your own funding is to see real prices side by side. You can compare provider prices for your area on this site, with the government's indicative prices shown next to them. If you would like to talk it through with a person, call Trilogy Care on 1300 318 723.