My Aged Care describes it as an option for someone who needs a coordinated approach to help at home, perhaps because they need help with many everyday tasks, or because the care they need is more complex or intensive. For lighter, entry-level help, the Commonwealth Home Support Program still runs alongside it; on 21 August 2026 the Department announced that its grant funding is extended for another two years, to 30 June 2029, and that it will consult on the program’s future.
The way in is the same for both: an aged care assessment, which decides whether the person is eligible for ongoing or short-term Support at Home services. Tabs 1 and 2 cover that.
What it pays for
My Aged Care groups Support at Home services in three.
Clinical supports
Nursing care, occupational therapy, podiatry, and help with showering or dressing, for example.
Independence
Transport, remedial massage, respite care, and support to get to appointments or social events, for example.
Everyday living
Cleaning, gardening, shopping and preparing meals, for example.
Services that help make care culturally safe are part of it too, for instance support to take part in cultural activities, and access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and health practitioners. Which group a service sits in decides how much the person contributes to it; that is on the costs tab.
One ongoing budget, three short-term pathways
The four parts of Support at Home, from My Aged Care
| Part | What it is for | How long |
|---|
| Ongoing services | Help from everyday tasks to complex needs, funded at one of 8 classifications, each including care management. | Ongoing, paid as a quarterly budget. |
|---|
| Restorative Care Pathway | Short-term allied health and/or nursing to regain function, which lowers the need for more intensive ongoing services. | 16-week episodes, up to 2 in 12 months. |
|---|
| Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme | Upfront funding for products, equipment and home adjustments, separate from the ongoing budget. | 12 months in most cases. |
|---|
| End-of-Life Pathway | Additional care to stay at home in the last 3 months of life. Someone not already in Support at Home can be referred for a high-priority assessment. | A budget for 12 weeks that can be used over up to 16. |
|---|
How the ongoing budget works
The classification sets a quarterly budget covering three months. A tenth of it is allocated to the provider for care management, which can include developing and reviewing the care plan and helping manage the services delivered.
The person and their provider work out the care and services together, choosing from the list approved at the assessment, set out in a care plan and an individualised budget. The provider sends a monthly statement to keep track of it. The person can ask to change the mix at any time, and a reassessment can be asked for if needs change.
Waiting for funding
The Support at Home Priority System hands out funding for ongoing services according to priority category and the approval date shown on the assessment outcome letter. My Aged Care publishes estimated waits as a guide, and they range from within 1 month for the urgent category to 7 to 8 months for the standard one. Those estimates were last updated on 30 June 2026 and read in October 2026. The full table is on My Aged Care’s page.
The wait starts from the access approval start date in the outcome letter. Where waits run longer than expected, a person may be given interim funding: 60% of the approved funding, for the most critical services, with the rest assigned when it becomes available. The Restorative Care Pathway and End-of-Life Pathway have no waitlist, and the AT-HM scheme has priority systems of its own.
Funding is allocated separately for each approved service, so one service can start before the others arrive.
Choosing a provider and starting
- Compare providers My Aged Care’s Find a provider tool compares prices, and every Support at Home provider must publish its full price list online.
- The funding letter It says Support at Home funding has been allocated.
- A service agreement within 56 days From the date of that letter, with the chosen provider, and services started. My Aged Care can give a 28-day extension; after that the funding is withdrawn and offered to the next person, though the person can re-join the Priority System.
- The referral code Given to the chosen provider, it lets them see the person’s client record and Support Plan and accept the referral.
Not ready for services yet? Tell the assessor, or My Aged Care later. The status becomes “not seeking services” until it is changed back.
People approved for a Home Care Package on or before 31 October 2025 receive an equivalent Support at Home classification when funding becomes available.