Support at Home

Support at Home glossary

Plain-English definitions of every Support at Home term used across the site. Each term has its own link, so you can share a definition or jump straight to it from a guide.

A

ACAT (Aged Care Assessment Team): The team that historically assessed people for higher-needs aged care. Under Support at Home, ACAT and the lower-needs Regional Assessment Service were brought together into a single assessment workforce. One assessor visits you at home and decides your classification.
Allied health: Therapy services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech pathology, and dietetics. Under Support at Home these clinical services are government-funded and do not draw down your everyday-living budget in the way some other services do.
Annual budget: The total ongoing funding your classification provides over a year, usually paid in four quarterly instalments. It covers your everyday-living and independence services, not the separately-funded clinical care, assistive technology, or home modifications.
Assistive technology (AT): Equipment recommended by an occupational therapist to help you stay safe and independent, such as walkers, mobility scooters, hospital beds, personal alarms, and pressure cushions. Funded from a separate pool, allocated by need rather than by your classification level.

C

Care management: The clinical and care-planning oversight of your package: reviewing your support plan, coordinating clinical input, and adjusting services as your needs change. Under Support at Home the care management fee is capped.
Case management: A term often used interchangeably with care management. It refers to a named person or team coordinating your services and acting as a point of contact. The amount of case management you need depends on whether you self-manage or use a full-service provider.
Classification: Your funding level under Support at Home, numbered 1 (lowest) to 8 (highest). It sets your annual budget and the services you can access. It replaced the older 4-level Home Care Package system. See the full classifications explainer for what each level funds.
Clinical care: Care delivered by registered nurses and allied health professionals, such as nursing, wound care, and physiotherapy. Under Support at Home, clinical care is government-funded separately from your everyday-living budget.
Co-contribution: The amount you pay toward your own services, calculated by a means test on your income and assets. Full pensioners contribute the least. The co-contribution varies by service type, and annual and lifetime caps limit the total you can be asked to pay.
Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP): A separate, entry-level program of subsidised services for older people with lower needs, such as occasional cleaning, meals, or transport. It sits alongside Support at Home and is often a first step before a full classification.

D

Decision letter: The official letter confirming the outcome of your assessment: whether you are approved, which classification you have been given, and your funding. Keep it, as it is the authoritative record of your classification and budget.

E

Everyday living services: Day-to-day support funded by your classification budget, such as domestic assistance (cleaning, laundry), meal preparation, gardening, shopping, and social support.

F

Full-service (fully coordinated): A management model where the provider organises your whole package: recruiting and rostering workers, scheduling, paperwork, and budget management, for a higher coordination fee. The alternative is self-management. See the self-managed vs full-service guide.

G

Grandfathering: The protections that carried existing Home Care Package recipients into Support at Home. Your funding cannot be set below your equivalent old HCP level, your services continued without interruption, and your unspent funds carried over.

H

Home Care Package (HCP): The older program that Support at Home replaced. It had four levels rather than eight classifications, and provider fees were not capped. Existing HCP recipients transitioned automatically and kept their funding under grandfathering.
Home modifications (HM): Physical changes to your home to keep you safe, such as grab rails, ramps, bathroom adaptations, and stair lifts. Funded from a separate pool. Smaller changes use a streamlined approval; major work needs an occupational therapy report.

I

Income-tested care fee: The part of your co-contribution determined by the means test on your income and assets. It is subject to annual and lifetime caps, so your cumulative contributions across home care are bounded.

L

Lifetime cap: The maximum total you can be asked to contribute to your care fees across your lifetime. Once you reach it, you do not pay further income-tested or means-tested care fees. The amount is set by government and indexed.

M

My Aged Care: The Australian Government's entry point for aged care, reachable on 1800 200 422 or at myagedcare.gov.au. You register here, arrange your assessment, and request a re-assessment if your needs change.

P

Package management fee: The administrative fee a provider charges to run the business side of your package: payments, compliance, records, and reporting. Under Support at Home it is capped. A lower fee leaves more of your budget for actual care.
Personal care: Hands-on help with daily activities such as showering, dressing, grooming, toileting, and mobility. It is one of the most commonly funded services and scales up with higher classifications.
Provider: An organisation approved to deliver Support at Home services. Only providers on the My Aged Care register can deliver SAH-funded care. Providers range from large full-service organisations to lower-overhead self-managed providers.

Q

Quarterly budget: Your annual classification funding is paid in four quarterly instalments into a virtual wallet, which your provider draws down as services are delivered. Modest unspent funds can often carry forward, subject to program rules.

R

Re-assessment: A fresh assessment requested when your needs change, for example after a hospital stay, a fall, or a condition progressing. It can move you to a higher classification. Grandfathered clients cannot be moved below their old HCP-equivalent floor.
Regional Assessment Service (RAS): The service that historically assessed people with lower needs. Under Support at Home it was combined with ACAT into a single assessment workforce, so one assessor now covers the full range of needs.
Restorative care: Short-term, intensive support (up to around 12 weeks) to help you recover function after an acute event such as a hospital admission, stroke, or fall. Funded separately from your ongoing classification budget.

S

Self-managed: A management model where you choose your own workers and negotiate the rate, while a self-managed provider handles compliance, payments, and records in the background. The coordination fee is lower, so more of your budget reaches care.
Services Australia: The government agency that administers the means test behind your co-contribution. It assesses your income and assets to determine what, if anything, you contribute toward your care.
Support at Home (SAH): The Australian Government program that helps older people get care and services to keep living safely at home. It replaced the Home Care Packages program, with capped provider fees and eight funding classifications.
Support plan: The document that sets out the specific services you receive and how your budget is spent. Your classification sets the budget envelope; your support plan decides how the budget is used. Two people on the same classification can have very different plans.

T

Transition Care Programme (TCP): A short-term program providing therapy and support after a hospital stay, designed to help you recover and avoid premature entry into residential care. It can run alongside or before a Support at Home classification.

U

Unspent funds: Budget you have not used by the end of a period. Under Support at Home, modest unspent funds at quarter end can often carry forward, subject to program rules. Consistent large underspends are worth discussing with your provider.

V

Virtual wallet: The notional account your quarterly budget is paid into. You do not receive the money directly; your provider draws it down as services are delivered, and you decide through your support plan how it is spent.

Want the detail behind the terms? Read the classifications explainer, browse the full guides library, or compare provider prices in your area.