What is Support at Home?

Also known as: SAH

Support at Home is the Australian Government program for aged care delivered in a person’s own home, replacing Home Care Packages and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. Older people are assessed into classification levels with a quarterly budget, and contribute to costs according to their means and the category of service.

Full guide: Support at Home program: the complete guide for 2026

Free toolSupport at Home service listAll 49 services: category, contribution, and what is in and out of scope.

Support at Home restructures home aged care around three service categories, clinical supports, independence and everyday living, with a different contribution rate for each. Clinical supports attract no participant contribution.

For providers, the significant operational changes are quarterly budgets rather than accruing balances, a defined service list, and means-tested contributions that must be calculated, invoiced and collected alongside the government subsidy.

The Support at Home service list

The service list sets out every service Support at Home can fund. Each service sits in one of three categories, and the category decides what the participant contributes:

Clinical supports, such as nursing and allied health. Participants make no contribution.
Independence, such as social support, respite, transport and assistive technology.
Everyday living, such as cleaning, home maintenance and meals.

Personal care moved into clinical supports for services delivered from 1 October 2026, so participants pay nothing towards it. Before that it was an independence service.

A participant can only receive the service types their assessment approved, so a provider should check a booking against the approved services before delivering it.

Budgets, care management and prices

Each participant has a quarterly budget set by their classification. Ten per cent of each quarterly budget goes to a pooled care management account held by the provider, and the rest pays for services. A limited amount of unspent budget can carry over to the next quarter.

Providers set their own prices for each service and must publish them, both on My Aged Care and on their own website.

Questions people ask

What are the Support at Home service categories?

Clinical supports, independence, and everyday living. The category of a service decides how much the participant contributes towards it.

Do participants pay for clinical care under Support at Home?

No. Clinical supports such as nursing attract no participant contribution, and from 1 October 2026 personal care is fully government funded too.

How much of a Support at Home budget goes to care management?

Ten per cent of each quarterly budget is set aside for care management, in a pooled account held by the provider.

Checked against the official sources on 1 October 2026. Rules change: confirm the current position with the agency before you rely on it.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Support at Home program

Related terms

Home Care PackageA 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.My Aged CareMy Aged Care is the Australian Government’s entry point for aged-care services. It handles registration, screening and referral to assessment, and holds the client record that follows an older person through assessment, service allocation and provider referral. Providers receive and accept referrals through the My Aged Care provider portal.DEXThe Data Exchange is the Australian Government’s reporting platform for funded community and aged-care programs. Providers report client details, the sessions of service delivered, and optionally outcomes data, on a defined reporting period cycle. Continued funding is conditional on reporting.SIRSThe Serious Incident Response Scheme requires approved aged-care providers to manage and report serious incidents involving people receiving care. Reportable categories include unreasonable use of force, unlawful or inappropriate sexual conduct, neglect, psychological or emotional abuse, unexpected death, stealing or coercion, and unexplained absence.Support at Home classificationA Support at Home classification is the funding level an older person is assigned at their aged care assessment. There are eight classifications for ongoing services, each with a set quarterly budget, plus short-term pathways for restorative care, end-of-life care and assistive technology and home modifications.Care managementCare management is the Support at Home service in which a care partner helps a participant plan, coordinate and review their care. It is funded by setting aside 10% of each participant's quarterly budget into a pooled care management account held by the provider, and must be delivered to every participant, including those who self-manage.Notice of DecisionA Notice of Decision is the letter an older person receives after an aged care assessment, setting out whether they are approved for government-funded aged care and which services. For Support at Home it states the approved services and any short-term pathways, the reasons for the decision, review rights, and includes the person's support plan.

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