The Federal Government’s first stage of its new Support at Home program will roll out from July 1, 2025. It will replace the Home Care Package program. As part of the aged care reforms, all Home Care Package recipients will be transitioned to this new program, developed to enable more funding, provide a higher quality of care, and improve the overall system as Australia’s population continues to age.
What are the Support at Home program changes?
The Home Care Package (HCP) Program will continue operating as usual until you transition to the Support at Home program. The Support at Home program has been developed to provide you with improved access to services, products, equipment and home modifications so that you can remain healthy, active, and connected to your community for longer.
Key changes under the new program from July 1, 2025, will include:
** New classification and budget levels: Eight levels of ongoing support, with funding up to $78,000 per year, plus two short-term pathways.
** Introduction of price caps on services in the new Support at Home program from July 1, 2026. From July 1, 2025, in-home aged care providers will continue to set their own prices for Support at Home services.
** Quarterly budgets: Annual budgets will be divided into four quarterly budgets. New hourly rates for services will be set to account for changes to care management and package management fees.
** Care Management: 10% of your quarterly budget will be pooled for a service provider to deliver care management.
** Package Management: this fee will no longer be applied.
What does this mean for me?
For an existing Home Care Package recipient, health and care services will continue to be delivered under the Support at Home program and you won’t need to be reassessed into one of the new classification levels when the new program starts.
What’s a quarterly budget?
Under the new program, you will receive a Support at Home budget that matches the same funding level as your HCP as at June 30, 2025. But your annual budget will be divided into four equal budgets that each cover three months of the year.
Your final quarterly budget amount will be confirmed before the start of the new program. It’s important to note that unlike the current HCP program where you can accumulate unspent funds and rollover your HCP annual budget, when you transition to the Support at Home program, you will only be able to carry over unspent funds from your Support at Home budget each quarter of up to $1,000 or 10% of the budget (whichever is greater). The more expensive items that you have previously had to save for over time, like home modifications, will now be covered under a separate budget.
What will happen to unspent funds?
If you have Commonwealth unspent funds today, you will keep these funds for use under the Support at Home program. These amounts will not be subject to quarterly rollover limits.
How is the income-tested care fee changing?
If you currently pay an income-tested care fee, you will still be required to pay a contribution, but this will be at a rate which ensures you do not pay more than you currently do under the HCP Program. If you do not pay an income-tested care fee now, you won’t be required to pay a contribution under the new system.
What are the Support at Home classifications? Will I need to be reassessed?
The Support at Home classification framework improves on the current four Home Care Package levels, with:
** Eight ongoing Support at Home funding classifications and two short-term care pathways (Restorative Care Pathway and End-of-Life Pathway)
** Upfront funding for the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications ((AT-HM) Scheme, with 3 AT-HM Scheme funding tiers.
If your current HCP is meeting your care needs, you do not need to be reassessed. However, if your needs have changed, please get in touch and we can organise a review of your Care Plan and refer you to be reassessed into a new Support at Home classification with a higher budget.
What is the AT-HM Scheme and how does it impact my funds?
Support at Home will introduce the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) Scheme, which gives people access to assistive technology and home modifications without needing to save funds from their individual budgets. You can also use any unspent funds you have accrued towards the cost of assistive technology and home modifications. We will happily assist you to access this scheme when it becomes available.
At Jubilee Community Care we have been and continue to plan for the introduction of the Support at Home program. Our finance employees are determining the impact on the hourly service fee to account for the coming changes. Please be assured that your level, amount and frequency of services will not diminish. We will determine new budgets for clients and our coordinators will arrange home visits from April through to June to discuss the changes with you, and provide you with an updated Home Care Agreement.
The Federal Government has provided a PDF of the Support at Home Program Handbook online for people wanting to find out more about the program. Click here for a copy of the handbook.
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