Support at Home is Australia's new aged care program. It will replace the current Home Care Packages and Short Term Restorative Care programs from July 2025, and, eventually, the Commonwealth Home Support Program.
Australia's aged care system is undergoing significant change in response to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Let's take a look at the changes you'll see under Support at Home.
New support classifications and short term programs
The Support at Home program will have eight levels of ongoing funding for in-home support, classifications 1-8. There'll be two different short-term funding streams, the restorative pathway and the end-of-life pathway.
The assistive technology-home modifications program (AT-HM) is a new program that allows up-front funding of up to $15,000* each for assistive technology and home modifications. The idea of this is that participants won’t need to save up for larger purchases such as mobility aids or bathroom modifications to allow them to live safely at home.
The value of the ongoing funding classifications will be about $11,000 (classification 1) to $78,000 (classification 8) per annum.
The restorative program will allow eligible participants to access up to 12 weeks of restorative support from allied health services and this will help them restore their function and independence at home.
The end-of-life program provides funding of up to $25,000 over three months for people who have been determined to have three months or less to live. When eligible, the participant can use this funding for up to 16 weeks, to access more supports and allow them to pass away in their own home if that is their wish.
Specialist palliative care services will not be provided under the end-of-life pathway.
*This value may change before the program is implemented
The single assessment system will streamline aged care assessments
Under the previous home care program, there were two distinct assessment services, the Regional Assessment Service (RAS) and the Aged Care Assessment Team/Service (ACAT/ACAS). These were two separate services, so if a person needed to move from entry level services to more comprehensive support, they had to speak to different assessors from different assessment providers.
The single assessment system means that each assessment provider will have both a clinical and non-clinical workforce. If a person is originally assessed by a non-clinical assessor and then needs more support at a later stage, the same assessment service will be able to provide a clinical assessor to complete the necessary review. As a result, the participant won't have to move to a different assessment provider.
The integrated assessment tool (IAT) will be used for all aged care assessments
The IAT is a new assessment tool, which was introduced from July 2024. It will be used during all aged care assessments to determine what level of support the older person should receive and what at priority their package will be assigned – standard, medium or high. Wait times will vary depending on priority.
The development of the IAT aims to ensure that assessments are more consistent.
The IAT will be used to determine a person’s eligibility for
- In-home aged care
- Flexible aged care programs
- Residential respite
- Entry to residential aged care.
Information is stored in the form, so each time a person is triaged or assessed for aged care programs, any information previously given will be pre-populated. This reduces the number of times a person needs to “tell their story.” However, this means it’s important that you give accurate information that truly reflects your situation each time you speak to anyone from the age care program. The answers you give will determine not only which type of assessment you’ll get (clinical or non-clinical) but the services and supports you’ll be approved for.
If you try to be stoic you won't get all the support you need.
You'll be approved for different categories of service under Support at Home
There'll be three categories of services under Support at Home. Each will have its own types of services and associated costs. People are not automatically able to receive all services on these lists. They must be assessed as needing specific services.
- Clinical (eg nursing, physiotherapy and other allied health services)
- Independence (eg personal care, transport, respite, social support)
- Everyday living (eg domestic assistance, meals, home maintenance)
Participant contributions will apply for some services
Participants will only pay contributions on services they have received. The amount that each participant pays depends on
- The type of service they receive
- Their financial status and means
- Clinical services will not have a contribution. They will be fully funded by the Government.
- Independence services will have a contribution of 5%-50%
- Everyday living services will have a contribution of 17.5%-80%
Full aged pensioners would pay the lower contributions and the rate increases for part pensioners and self-funded retirees. An income and assets test will determine the level of contribution.
What else is changing?
Funding will be allocated in a quarterly budget.
There'll be a limit on how much of a person’s unspent funds can be carried over to the next quarter, to meet unplanned needs. Currently this is $1000 or 10% of the value of the person’s quarterly budget (whichever is greater).
The Government will set price caps for each service under Support at Home. The provider cannot charge a client more than this amount. These prices have not yet been released. Included in these set prices will be the provider’s administration fee, so providers will no longer charge an administration fee.
Every participant will pay 10% of their budget for care management. Providers will likely pool this funding across all their clients, as some clients need more care management than others.
There is still much to be confirmed before Support at Home is fully implemented. Major dates for these proposed changes at present are July 2025, implementation of Support at Home. July 2026, introduction of the pricing caps for different services within home care and July 2027 the Commonwealth Home Support Program merges into the Support at Home program.