Personal care is contribution-free from 1 October 2026
Since 1 October 2026, personal care sits in the clinical funding category under Support at Home. That covers three kinds of help: everyday self-care such as showering, dressing, eating and personal hygiene; support with taking your own medication; and continence support that is not clinical. In plain terms: the participant contribution on personal care is now $0.00, whatever your pension status — the same way nursing already works. It applies to personal care that is in your support plan, and those hours still come out of your quarterly budget.
What actually changed on your bill
Take a full pensioner with a typical plan — 3 hours of personal care ($345.00/week worth), plus domestic assistance and nursing:
| Until 30 September | From 1 October | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay each week | $55.75 | $38.50 |
| Government pays each week | $689.25 | $706.50 |
The saving equals whatever you were contributing on personal care specifically — the more personal care hours in your plan, the bigger the change. Higher contribution rates (part pensioners and self-funded participants) see proportionally larger drops.
Three things worth knowing
- It’s automatic. Nothing to apply for — for personal care delivered from 1 October, providers stop charging contributions. The Minister’s announcement on the day says providers will work with existing clients to update service agreements to reflect the change, so expect paperwork from your provider. Read it before you sign, and check that nothing else in the agreement has changed along with it.
- Your budget draw doesn’t change. Services Australia deducts the full price of each service — the government share and your contribution — from your quarterly budget, then pays the provider the government share (Program Manual V4.3, s16.5). So from 1 October the split changes, not the draw: the same hours use the budget at the same rate, with the government picking up the share you used to pay. The estimator shows both periods automatically.
- Watch your statements. Providers must give you an itemised monthly statement. Contributions still apply to personal care delivered before 1 October, even if it is billed later — but for services delivered from 1 October onward, the personal care contribution line should read $0.00. If it doesn’t, ask.
See your own before-and-after — the estimator shows both periods for any plan.
Estimate the costsRelated: what Support at Home costs in 2026 · why part-pensioner costs are a range