About HomeCareCompass
Why this exists
In November 2025, Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages for every family in Australia. The rules changed again in July 2026, and they change again this October. Each time, the answer to the only question that matters — what will this actually cost us each week? — stayed buried across fee schedules, program manuals and percentage tables that almost nobody reads.
I work in the care sector, so navigating support systems is my day job. I kept watching the same moment happen: a family finally gets an assessment sorted, then hits the fees — and nobody can give them a straight number. Not because anyone is hiding it, but because the answer genuinely takes hours of cross-referencing to work out by hand.
So I built the thing I kept wishing I could hand people: a calculator that turns the official schedules into one clear answer — what you pay, what the government pays, service by service. Free, no sign-up, nothing stored.
Who builds it
HomeCareCompass is built and run by one person — Derick, a care worker and developer based in Geelong, Victoria. There’s no company behind it, no provider money in it, and no call centre — when you email hello@homecarecompass.com.au, I’m the one who answers.
Being one person is the point. Independence is only real when nobody pays for the answer to come out a particular way. No provider sponsors this site, no one buys placement, and there are no ads.
How it stays honest
- Every rate has a source. The figures come from the published Australian Government schedules and the Support at Home program manual — dated, and re-verified whenever the rules change. The “rules current as of” badge on every page is a promise, not decoration.
- Honest ranges over false precision. Where the rules make an exact figure impossible — part pensioners, whose rate is set individually by Services Australia — the estimate shows the honest range instead of pretending.
- Clear lanes. This is general information, not financial advice. Services Australia determines actual contribution rates, and for free independent advocacy, OPAN is on 1800 700 600. Knowing what this tool is not is part of what makes it trustworthy.
On the public record
In 2026, I made a submission to the Senate inquiry into the Support at Home program. It was accepted and published by the committee as Submission 256 — part of the permanent parliamentary record.
What I told the Senate came from real families’ cases: protections that already exist in the program’s written rules — the grandfathered fee cap, refunds of unspent funds, hardship safeguards — are too often not communicated, not applied, or denied by the program’s own front line. The rules are often better than what people are told. Most of that gap is fixable, and the submission says so, with seven practical recommendations.
The committee reports on 24 November 2026. When it does, I’ll explain what its findings mean for families — in plain language, the same day.
What it costs
The estimator is free and stays free. If you want to go deeper, the Decision Pack is a one-off personalised report — scenario comparisons, price benchmarking against government-reported provider prices, and a provider-meeting checklist. That one purchase is what keeps the free tool independent.
Questions, corrections, or a story about how the fees landed on your family — I read everything.