Home Care Package to Support at Home
- Transitioned HCP levels from 1 October 2026
- No worse off principle
- Free, no sign-up
Unspent HCP funds as at 31 October 2025.
Support at Home budget, Oct to Dec 2026
Transitioned HCP level 3 · $43,233.21 a year
Contribution rules
No worse off (grandfathered) rates
Clinical
0%
Independence
0% to 25%
Everyday living
0% to 25%
The Home Care Package lifetime cap, kept for life, including in residential care. Indexed each 20 March and 20 September.
Worked out on income only, with a fortnightly cap: once contributions in the past fortnight pass 14 times the old daily income-tested care fee, nothing more is charged.
The exact rate comes from Services Australia. Estimate it in the Budget & Contribution Calculator.
Personal care is a clinical support from 1 October 2026, so it has no contribution under any of these rules.
What happens to unspent HCP funds
No carryover limitThe participant keeps them, including after a reassessment. The participant portion pays their contributions. The Commonwealth portion pays for services once the quarterly budget runs out, and for assistive technology and home modifications. Nothing paid entirely from the Commonwealth portion attracts a contribution.
Paying for services: drawn in this order
- 1Quarterly budget (or Restorative Care or End-of-Life budget)
- 2Provider-held HCP Commonwealth unspent funds
- 3HCP Commonwealth unspent funds in the home care account (held by Services Australia)
Paying for AT-HM: drawn in this order
- 1Provider-held HCP Commonwealth unspent funds
- 2HCP Commonwealth unspent funds in the home care account
- 3AT-HM tier budget
When the participant leaves the provider or dies
60
days after exit
The provider returns any Commonwealth portion it holds to Services Australia, credited to the participant’s home care account.
70
days after exit
The provider refunds the participant portion to the participant.
14
days after probate
If the participant dies, the participant portion goes to the estate within this time of the provider seeing probate or letters of administration.
What changed for Home Care Package recipients
Home Care Packages became Support at Home on 1 November 2025. Everyone with a package moved across as a transitioned recipient, keeping funding equal to their package level, as did people waiting on the National Priority System. Each level’s annual amount is split into four quarterly budgets, and 10% of each goes to the provider’s care management account. The income-tested care fee was abolished and replaced by participant contributions.
The no worse off principle
People who had a package, were on the priority system or were assessed as eligible on or before 12 September 2024 pay the same or less than before:
- No income-tested care fee before: no contributions, for life.
- Paid a fee: 0% for clinical supports and at most 25% for independence and everyday living, worked out on income only, with a fortnightly cap of 14 days of their old fee.
- Lifetime cap: the Home Care Package cap carries on.
Approved after that date, a transitioned recipient pays the standard rates. Estimate them with the Budget & Contribution Calculator. Rostery tracks each participant’s budget, unspent HCP funds and contribution rates together, so every claim draws from the right place.
What this tool follows
- Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Aged Care: Support at Home, version 3 (rates effective 1 October 2026, published 22 September 2026): transitioned HCP level amounts from 1 October 2026
- Support at Home program manual, version 4.4 (September 2026): transitioned and grandfathered recipients (sections 6.7.2, 9.4.1), unspent HCP funds (9.3.1, 12.3.3) and claiming order (16.4.5)
- Aged Care Rules 2025, Compilation No. 10: grandfathered contribution rates (section 314-10(3), (4) and (12)) and the fortnightly cap (section 273-10, item 4)
- Aged Care Amendment (September Indexation and Other Measures) Rules 2026 (F2026L01252): Home Care Package lifetime cap of $88,934.57 from 20 September 2026
- health.gov.au: Support at Home participant contributions: the no worse off principle
- My Aged Care: Support at Home costs and contributions
General information only, not financial, legal or claiming advice. Always check a claim against the current official documents.
Questions people ask
Who counts as grandfathered?
Anyone who, on or before 12 September 2024, was receiving a Home Care Package, was on the National Priority System, or had been assessed as eligible for a package. For most people, a first approval date on or before that day in the My Aged Care portal shows they qualify.
I didn’t pay an income-tested care fee. What do I pay now?
Nothing. Grandfathered participants who were not required to pay an income-tested care fee, including all grandfathered full pensioners, make no contributions for the rest of their time in Support at Home, even if they are reassessed into a higher classification.
Does my budget change when I move to Support at Home?
Not at first. A transitioned recipient keeps a budget equal to their package level, released quarterly. The amounts were indexed on 1 July 2026 and raised again on 1 October 2026. If you are reassessed into a higher classification, your budget becomes that classification’s amount.
Do I keep my unspent Home Care Package funds?
Yes, including after a reassessment, and there is no carryover limit on them. The Commonwealth portion is used after your quarterly budget runs out and for assistive technology or home modifications, with no contribution on anything it pays for in full. The participant portion pays your contributions.
What happens to unspent funds if I change provider?
The old provider must refund the participant portion to you within 70 days after you leave, and return any Commonwealth portion it holds to Services Australia within 60 days, where it is added to your home care account.
Which lifetime cap applies to me?
Grandfathered participants keep the Home Care Package lifetime cap, $88,934.57 from 20 September 2026, including if they later move into residential care. Everyone else has the Support at Home cap of $140,652.80. Both are indexed each 20 March and 20 September.
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