Guides
How much does Support at Home cost in 2026?
Contribution rates by pension status, quarterly budgets by classification, and a worked weekly example.
Read the guide →Everything changing on 1 October 2026
Four changes land the same day: personal care contributions end, subsidies rise for nurse wages, price-rise consent rules get tested, and the regulator watches. The full picture and the pre-October checklist.
Read the guide →Personal care becomes free from 1 October 2026
What changes on your bill, computed before and after — and the three things worth checking.
Read the guide →Clinical, Independence, Everyday Living: which services cost you what
The full official service list by category, the rates that apply to each, and why the category decides the cost.
Read the guide →How to prepare for your aged care assessment
The worst-day list, the evidence to bring, what the assessment tool actually covers, your support-person rights — and a free printable prep sheet.
Read the guide →Approved for Support at Home: what to do next (and what not to sign)
The approval letter decoded, shortlisting providers in one evening, the keep-my-worker question, self-management explained, and the red flags to walk away from.
Read the guide →The End-of-Life Pathway: care at home in the last months
A separate, larger budget for someone with three months or less to live who wants to stay at home. Who qualifies, the form the doctor signs, how long the funding lasts and what it costs.
Read the guide →Self-managing Support at Home: stretch the budget, keep the control
The activities you can take over, the 10% overhead cap on third-party workers, engaging a worker you already trust, and the obligations you accept in return.
Read the guide →Your provider owes you a statement every month
What must be on the itemised monthly statement, the legal deadline it must arrive by, what to do when they stop, and the enforcement powers behind the rule.
Read the guide →Charged twice across the changeover?
Late invoices that crossed the 1 November line, duplicate charges, forecast billing, and the written request that fixes all four errors.
Read the guide →How to compare provider prices — and what counts as too high
Reported price benchmarks, the quarterly National Price Summary, five questions to ask, and what to do about overcharging.
Read the guide →The 2-hour minimum: what the regulator says providers cannot do
Blanket minimum service times, after-hours rate creep and blaming the award — the three practices the Commission called unacceptable in July 2026, and the written question that fixes them.
Read the guide →What can unspent Home Care Package funds buy?
The two permitted uses and the order they apply, the zero-contribution rule, the refundable participant portion, and what happens if you change provider.
Read the guide →Equipment and home modifications: the AT-HM rules that protect you
The admin charge caps, the agree-before-spend rule, the $15,000 lifetime cap on high-tier mods, and how retained funds make equipment free.
Read the guide →Paying for something yourself — and getting it back
The five conditions for reimbursement, why the arrangement must be agreed before you spend, whose deadline the 60-day claiming rule actually is, and the two ways your contribution can be handled.
Read the guide →Assessed — but no provider will take you
Referral broadcasting, self-managed models, the CHSP emergency door and the levers that work when every local provider is full.
Read the guide →Approved for CHSP — but nobody will take your referral
Why block funding means your referral code carries no money, the waitlist rule most families are never told, and the four levers that actually move a stuck referral.
Read the guide →Can’t afford the contributions? The hardship door exists
The fee reduction supplement: the SA462 form, the 15% test, why providers cannot invoice you during assessment, and the protections before you even apply.
Read the guide →The escalation ladder: when a complaint goes nowhere
Provider, advocate, Complaints Commissioner, Ombudsman: the order that works and the free numbers for every rung. Plus the separate route when the problem is My Aged Care or the assessment itself.
Read the guide →Switching providers without losing a cent — or your history
What transfers automatically, the refund the old provider owes on exit, and the checklist of paper to gather before you go.
Read the guide →Support at Home vs Home Care Packages
Quarterly budgets, the three entry cohorts, and what grandfathering actually protects. Plus three transition rules to check against your paperwork, including the care plan review due by 31 October 2026.
Read the guide →Part pensioner costs: why your rate is a range
The range in dollars, the sum Services Australia uses to set your exact rate, and how to turn the range into a single figure once your rate letter arrives.
Read the guide →Why did the rate change when nothing changed?
Deeming, indexation and the overseas-income wrinkle: how currency movements alone can move a part pensioner’s contribution rate — and the audit trail that explains it.
Read the guide →Prefer numbers to prose? The free estimator answers in about two minutes.