Support At Home Guide

Changes to aged care

Over the last few years, the Australian Government has been implementing major changes to aged care. These wide ranging changes continue to drive positive outcomes, increasing transparency and steadily improving the quality of care for older people in Australia.

The government is continuing to put in place more reforms to ensure that everyone receives high quality, person-centered care as they age. High quality care and support should be accessible, no matter if you choose to remain at home or move to an aged care home.

About the Support at home program

The Australian Government is improving in-home aged care to help older people live independently at home for longer.

A new program has been developed called Support at Home, which will bring together some in-home aged care programs from 1 November 2025.

Under the new Support at Home program, there will be improved access to services, products, equipment and home modifications to help older people to remain healthy, active and socially connected to their community.

This includes:

A restorative Care Pathway, to help you maintain and improve your independence through multidisciplinary allied health services.
The Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme, for products, equipment and home modifications to meet your assessed needs.
An End-of-Life Pathway, to provide dedicated funding to access services and remain at home in your last 3 months of life.

Support at Home Start Date

The Support at Home program will replace the Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme from 1 November 2025.

The Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) will become part of the Support at Home program no earlier than 1 July 2027.

Support the can be accessed through Support at Home

Services to support you to live at home for longer

Support at Home offers a wide range of support so you can continue to live well at home. Based on your aged care assessment and eligibility, you will have access to an approved list of services. You will be supported to choose the mix of services you can access within your budget.

Under the Support at Home program, you can request to change the mix of services you access from the approved list at any time with your provider, who will support you to make sure the services you receive meet your needs.

This includes support for:

Clinical care - such as nursing care, occupational therapy and continence care.
Independence - such as help with getting dressed, taking medications, transport or respite care.
Everyday living - such as cleaning, gardening, shopping or meal preparation.

Support at Home will have 8 ongoing service classifications, which represent the level of funding available based on your assessed needs. Each ongoing service classification will have a quarterly budget for you to access services. You can request a re-assessment if your needs change.

For those on a Home Care Package, you will move to Support at Home on a classification the same as your HCP funding.

Three short-term service classifications are also available. When you are assessed for aged care, your assessor will determine if you are eligle for the short-term pathways. They provide additional time-limited support. Short-term service classifications are also accessed via an aged care assessment.

Support at home ongoing services

Restorative Care Pathway

The Restorative Care Pathway will help people regain independence with daily tasks. It can reduce the need for more services and support you in doing the activities you enjoy.

Under the Restorative Care Pathway, you may:

have access to up to 16 weeks of restorative care
receive an extra budget of about $6,000 (or up to $12,000 if required) for multidisciplinary allied health services
access restorative care separately, or in addition to ongoing Support at Home services
have access to assistive technology and home modifications through the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme if needed.

Support at home short term support

End-of-Life Pathway

The End-of-Life Pathway will support you to remain at home in your last 3 mmonths of life. You can be referred for a high priority Support Plan Review to access the End-of-Life Pathway, even if you're not already a Support at Home participant.

Under the End-of-Life Pathway, you will:

have urgent access to a higher level of funding for in-home care services if you have been diagnosed with 3 months or less to live
have access to assistive technology through the Assisstive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme if needed
receive funding of up to $25,000 over 12 weeks, with 16 weeks to use the funds to provide more flexibility.

If you need services beyond 12 weeks, you can request an assessment so you can continue to receive Support at Home services under an ongoing classification. This pathway is to complement other in-home palliative care services provided through state and territory governments.

Support-at-Home short term supports

Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme

The Assisstive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme will give you access to products, equipment (such as a wheelchair) and home modifications (such as a shower rail) to meet your assessed needs.

If you are approved for the AT-HM scheme after your aged care assessment, you can access up to $15,000 for home modifications and $15,000 (or more with evidence) for assistive technology. You may be eligible to rececive assistive technology funding, home modifications funding, or both.

The funding tiers for assisstive technology and home modications, based on your assessed needs are:

Low	Up to $500
Medium	Up to $2,000
High	Up to $15,000

Links and Resources

Please see the below list of resources providing more detailed information about the new Support at Home program.

Want to find out more? Please contact us if you would like to find out more about how we can support you.