How much does Support at Home cost in 2026?
The short answer: it depends on three things — your pension status, which services you use, and your provider’s prices. Clinical care (like nursing, and since 1 October 2026 personal care such as help with showering and dressing) costs you $0.00 regardless. For everything else, you pay a percentage of each service’s price and the government pays the rest. Every service, including the ones that cost you nothing, is paid for out of your quarterly budget.
A worked example
Take a common plan: 3 hours of personal care, 2 hours of domestic assistance and 1 hour of nursing each week, at the national median prices providers charged — $745.00 worth of services weekly. A full pensioner pays $38.50 of that; the government pays $706.50.
Your own plan will differ — which is the point of the free estimator: enter your services and see your number in about two minutes.
Contribution rates by pension status
These are the rates for people entering Support at Home from 1 November 2025 (different, protected rates apply if you were in home care, or approved for it, on or before 12 September 2024 — see how the systems compare).
| Status | Clinical | Independence | Everyday living |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full pensioner | 0% | 5% | 17.5% |
| Part pensioner | 0% | 5% to 39.48% | 17.5% to 65.4% |
| No pension, income under the Seniors Health Card limit | 0% | 32.67% to 50% | 55.94% to 80% |
| No pension, income over that limit | 0% | 50% | 80% |
Where a range is shown, Services Australia sets your exact rate from income and assets — here’s how that works. The Rules give part pensioners and non-pensioners under the Seniors Health Card income limit one shared band, 5% to 50% and 17.5% to 80%. The table splits it where the pension stops: a person still receiving any pension sits in the lower part, and a person whose income or assets rule out a pension sits in the upper part. Where the split falls is our working from the method in the Rules (sections 314-55 to 314-85) and the current pension figures, not a legal limit, and that guide shows the sum. You do not need to hold a Seniors Health Card to be in the third row; it covers anyone not on the Age Pension whose income would pass the card’s income test (section 314-40). And since 1 October 2026, personal care no longer attracts a contribution, whatever your pension status.
Two small groups pay nothing at all. The Rules set the contribution rate at 0% in every category for former prisoners of war and for anyone awarded the Victoria Cross (section 314-10). If that is you or your parent and a contribution is being charged, raise it with Services Australia.
Quarterly budgets by classification
Your assessed classification sets how much the government holds for your services each quarter (10% of it funds care management, at no contribution to you). These are the amounts in force from 1 October 2026:
| Classification | Quarterly budget |
|---|---|
| Classification 1 | $2,758 |
| Classification 2 | $4,121 |
| Classification 3 | $5,645 |
| Classification 4 | $7,632 |
| Classification 5 | $10,202 |
| Classification 6 | $12,365 |
| Classification 7 | $14,944 |
| Classification 8 | $20,074 |
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