Support at Home vs Home Care Packages: what actually changed
On 1 November 2025, Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages. If you knew the old system, four changes matter most — and when you entered home care now decides which rules apply to you.
The four big changes
- Quarterly budgets, not annual packages. Instead of an annual HCP amount, your classification sets a quarterly budget. Unspent funds carry over within limits, and 10% of each budget funds care management — at no contribution to you.
- Contributions by service category. You now pay a percentage per service depending on its category: clinical care is always 0% to you (and since 1 October 2026 that includes personal care); independence and everyday-living supports carry rates set by your cohort and pension status. The old income-tested care fee model is gone for new entrants.
- Eight classifications. Assessment now places you on an eight-level ladder, from $2,758 to $20,074 per quarter.
- Provider prices are uncapped for now. Price caps were announced but deferred — instead, the Aged Care Rules say a price “must not be unreasonable” (section 273-15), the government announced in May 2026 that the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission would be empowered to order refunds where providers are found to be overcharging, a National Summary of Support at Home Prices shows how providers compare, and comparing providers remains your main protection. Prices vary widely.
Which rules apply to you: the three cohorts
| Your situation… | Your rules |
|---|---|
| In home care — or approved or waiting for it — on or before 12 September 2024 | Grandfathered — “no worse off” protections apply |
| Entered 13 Sep 2024 – 31 Oct 2025 | Transitioned — standard rates, HCP-equivalent budget levels |
| Entering from 1 November 2025 | New entrant — standard rates, classifications 1–8 |
What grandfathering actually protects
- Full pensioners pay 0%. Every category, 0% — and that includes anyone who paid no income-tested care fee under their package.
- Income-only assessment. Assets are excluded for everyone grandfathered. Part pensioners, and non-pensioners whose income is under the Seniors Health Card limit (card or no card), get rates calculated from income alone — a band of 0% to 25% on everyday living, against the standard band of 17.5% to 80%. Self-funded participants whose income is over that limit pay a flat maximum of 25% — well under the standard top rates. And for anyone who was paying an income-tested care fee, a fortnightly cap limits the total you can be asked to pay to no more than the old arrangement would have charged. The cap is written into the law: once the contributions charged to you over the preceding fortnight exceed your old daily fee multiplied by 14, your contribution is zero (Aged Care Rules, section 273-10, item 4). It depends on your having had an income-tested care fee immediately before 1 November 2025.
- The old HCP lifetime cap travels with you, including into residential care.
- Protections survive reassessment — moving to a higher classification doesn’t cost you the protected rates.
Transitioned from an HCP? Your budget speaks HCP
If you moved across with an existing package, your budget maps from your old HCP level rather than the new ladder — from $2,824 (Level 1 equivalent) to $16,386 (Level 4 equivalent) per quarter. Unspent HCP funds transferred with you: they can buy equipment and home modifications at any time, or fund extra services once a quarterly budget is fully exhausted — the full rules are here.
Three transition rules worth checking against your own paperwork
These come from the transitional rules that moved package holders across on 1 November 2025. They apply to people who were receiving a Home Care Package from the same provider at that date.
- Your old care plan must be reviewed by 31 October 2026. An old package care plan was carried over as a care and services plan, and the provider must review it “as soon as is practicable and no later than the end of the period of 12 months” from 1 November 2025 (section 49). If nobody has sat down with you to review the plan, ask for a date.
- No contributions until the old agreement was updated. Your old home care agreement was carried over as a service agreement, and the provider had to review and vary it to meet the new requirements. Until that was done, the provider “must not charge the individual a contribution” for services delivered from 1 November 2025 (section 48(6)). If your statements show contributions for a period before you agreed to the updated agreement, ask the provider in writing for the date the agreement was varied.
- The old annual cap carried over for its remaining months. If you had already reached the annual cap on income-tested care fees before 1 November 2025, your contribution is zero for the rest of that 12-month cap period (section 126). Those periods all run out by the end of October 2026, so this matters mainly for checking past statements.
Not sure which cohort you’re in? The estimator asks one question and applies the right rules.
Estimate the costsRelated: what Support at Home costs in 2026 · the 1 October 2026 change