What is Home Care Package?
Also known as: HCP
A Home Care Package was the Australian Government’s coordinated home aged-care funding, allocated at one of four levels according to assessed need. Funds accrued in an individual budget managed by an approved provider. Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025.
Full guide: Support at Home program: the complete guide for 2026
The four levels ran from basic to high care needs, with a subsidy paid to the provider and an unspent-funds balance that followed the older person between providers.
The transition to Support at Home changes the funding mechanics substantially — most significantly, moving from an accruing balance to quarterly budgets — so provider systems built around unspent-funds tracking need reworking rather than remapping.
Home Care Packages have ended
The Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme were replaced by Support at Home on 1 November 2025, when the new Aged Care Act 2024 commenced. No new Home Care Packages are issued. The term still appears in older care plans, service agreements and client records, and in the funding levels of people who transitioned.
What happened to existing package holders
People who were receiving a Home Care Package moved to Support at Home with a funding level equivalent to their old package, recorded as Transitioned HCP Level 1, 2, 3 or 4. Their quarterly budget mirrors their previous funding and is indexed each year.
- People assessed as eligible for a package but still waiting on 31 October 2025 moved to the Support at Home Priority System and receive the equivalent level when a place becomes available
- A transitioned participant who is reassessed for a higher level of need is approved for one of the eight Support at Home classifications
- People who were receiving or approved for a package on or before 12 September 2024 are covered by the no worse off principle for contributions
What changed for providers
Package funds that accrued in an individual budget gave way to quarterly budgets set by classification, with 10% of each quarterly budget pooled into a care management account held by the provider. Participant contributions now depend on the service category: clinical supports carry no contribution, and from 1 October 2026 personal care is fully government funded. Providers set and publish their own prices and send each participant a monthly statement.
If you still run Home Care Package reports or budgets, rebuild them around classifications, quarters and service categories.
How Rostery helps
Rostery manages Support at Home budgets by quarter, including transitioned HCP levels, calculates contributions by service category, and produces claims and monthly statements.
Questions people ask
Can someone still get a Home Care Package?
No. Since 1 November 2025, in-home aged care is funded through Support at Home. People who had a package were moved to an equivalent Support at Home funding level.
What is a transitioned HCP level?
It is the Support at Home funding level given to someone who had a Home Care Package on 31 October 2025, set to match their previous package level.
Do former package holders pay more under Support at Home?
People who were receiving or approved for a package on or before 12 September 2024 are covered by the no worse off principle for contributions.
Checked against the official sources on 2 October 2026. Rules change: confirm the current position with the agency before you rely on it.
Related terms
More in Aged care
Rostery handles this in practice
SCHADS interpretation, NDIS price-guide validation, claiming and the evidence an audit asks for — built for Australian providers.