What can Mum’s old package money actually buy?
If your parent had unspent funds when Home Care Packages ended on 1 November 2025, that money came across with them into Support at Home — and it is one of the most misunderstood pockets of the whole transition. Ask this question in any aged care forum and you will collect three confident, contradictory answers within the hour. Here is what the rules actually say.
The two permitted uses — and the order matters
- Assistive technology & home modifications - at any time; unspent HCP funds must be used BEFORE AT-HM scheme tier funding
- Extra services (any service type) - once the entire quarterly budget for the quarter is spent
In plain terms: for equipment and home modifications, the old money is the first dollar spent — if you are getting a recliner, rails or a ramp through the AT-HM scheme, the retained funds are used before the scheme’s own tier funding — and when spent this way, the old money is not subject to the scheme’s $15,000 cap on home modifications. For extra services (more cleaning, more personal care, anything on the service list), the old money only unlocks once the quarter’s regular budget is fully spent — it tops up after, never alongside.
Four facts that settle most arguments
- Anything paid entirely from the old money costs you nothing. The Program Manual (s9.3.1.4) is explicit: no participant contributions are payable on services, products or equipment paid entirely from Commonwealth-portion HCP unspent funds. If a purchase is split — partly old money, partly the Support at Home budget — your contribution applies only to the Support at Home portion. If a statement shows a contribution on something the old money paid for, query it.
- No cap applies to retained HCP funds. The quarterly carryover limit people mention ($1,000 or 10% of the budget) applies only to new Support at Home unspent amounts — never to the old package money.
- The funds follow the person. Change provider and the retained balance transfers — nothing is forfeited by switching.
- The OT assessment is not the barrier families fear. A prescription for AT-HM items is usually funded through the scheme itself, and assessments are treated as clinical — so the report that decides what equipment is needed should not be the out-of-pocket obstacle.
One more pocket: money that may be refundable
Old package balances often had two parts — a Commonwealth portion and a participant portion (money your parent paid in themselves, such as old fees and contributions). The participant portion works differently: within 70 days of the 1 November transition, provider and participant were meant to agree whether it would be refunded or retained to pay their contributions — and where refund was agreed, it was payable within 14 days. If nobody ever had that conversation with your family, ask the provider in writing which portions make up the balance and what was agreed about the participant portion. Some families are owed money they have never been told about.
The one thing to ask your provider
Ask them to show the retained HCP balance separately from the quarterly budget on the monthly statement. Some statements blur the two together, which makes it impossible to track either — and if a provider cannot show you the split, that is worth escalating. (Statements themselves are an enforceable monthly requirement — see the statements guide.)
Working out the regular budget side? The estimator computes contributions and budget fit from the official schedules.
Estimate the costsRelated: your provider owes you a statement every month · personal care becomes free from 1 October