Staying at home with support: how help at home works

A lot of talk about later life assumes you’ll eventually move. Many people don’t. They stay in the home they know, near their neighbours, their garden and their routines, and they bring the help in.

That works well when the help arrives early, before a fall or a hospital stay forces the issue. Asking for a bit of cleaning or a lift to appointments isn’t giving up. It’s what lets you keep doing the things you care about.

If you’re an adult child reading this, the same applies. “I’m fine” often means “I’m managing, just”. A small amount of help now can keep things fine for much longer.

My Aged Care is the Australian Government’s front door to aged care. You can’t get government-funded help at home without going through it first.

You can apply online (you’ll need your Medicare card, and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes), call 1800 200 422, or book a face-to-face appointment with an Aged Care Specialist Officer at a Services Australia centre on 1800 227 475. A family member or friend can apply for you, with your permission, and can be with you at the assessment.

After you apply, an assessment organisation will call to arrange a time. A trained assessor usually comes to your home, though it can also happen elsewhere, by video or by phone. They ask about your health, what you can do on your own, what you find hard, and what you want to keep doing.

Be honest about the hard days, not just the good ones. If you only describe your good days, you may be approved for less help than you need.

• Have your Medicare card and a list of your medicines handy.
• Write down the jobs that have become difficult, such as showering, cleaning, shopping or driving.
• Ask someone you trust to sit in with you.
• If you’re isolated or find the system hard to deal with, ask My Aged Care about the free care finder service.

On 1 November 2025 a new program called Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme. It came in alongside the new Aged Care Act.

Support at Home is for people who need a coordinated mix of help, or more complex or intensive care. If you’re approved, you’re given one of 8 funding levels, called classifications, based on your assessed needs. Each comes with a quarterly budget that covers your services and care management (a care partner who helps organise things). As at 1 October 2026, budgets ranged from about $11,000 a year at level 1 to about $80,000 a year at level 8. These amounts change each year.

Support at Home also has three short-term pathways: the Restorative Care Pathway (a burst of allied health or nursing to help you get your strength and skills back), the End-of-Life Pathway (extra care at home in your last three months), and a scheme for equipment and home modifications, covered below.

Lighter help still comes through the Commonwealth Home Support Program, or CHSP. It’s for entry-level support such as a bit of cleaning, meals, transport or social support. The government had planned to fold CHSP into Support at Home, but in August 2026 it extended CHSP funding to 30 June 2029.

The assessor works out which kinds of help you’re approved for. You then choose a provider, and together you agree on the mix of services. You can ask to change that mix, or ask for a reassessment if your needs change.

Some approved services can start before others. Funding is allocated separately for each service, so you might get help with cleaning while you’re still waiting for something else.

• Everyday living: cleaning, laundry, shopping, meals and meal preparation, gardening and home maintenance.
• Getting out and about: transport, help to get to appointments or social activities, and respite to give a carer a break.
• Personal care: help with showering, dressing, continence, eating and taking medicines.
• Clinical care: nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and podiatry.
• Equipment and home changes: things like grab rails, ramps, shower chairs and mobility aids.

Under Support at Home, the government pays most of the cost, and you pay a contribution towards some services. How much depends on two things: the type of service, and your income and assets.

Clinical care, such as nursing and occupational therapy, is fully government funded. From 1 October 2026, personal care, such as help with showering and dressing, is fully funded too. For other services, full pensioners pay the lowest share and self-funded retirees who don’t hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card pay the highest. My Aged Care lists the current rates: for example, a full pensioner pays 5% of the price of services that help you get out and about, and 17.5% of the price of everyday help like cleaning and gardening. At the top end those figures are 50% and 80%.

Services Australia works out your rate from your income and assets. If you’re a pensioner, it usually uses the information it already has. If you don’t give your details, you’ll be charged the maximum rate. There is also a lifetime cap on what you pay in contributions.

If you were already receiving, or approved for, a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024, the rules say you won’t pay more under Support at Home than you would have under the old system. Providers set their own prices and must publish them, so it’s worth comparing. My Aged Care has a fee estimator and a provider search tool. CHSP services have their own, usually small, contributions set by each provider.

Small changes to your home can make a big difference: a rail beside the toilet, a non-slip shower, better lighting on the stairs, a ramp at the front door. Often an occupational therapist (OT), a health professional who helps people manage everyday tasks, will visit to suggest what would help most.

Under Support at Home, the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme gives upfront funding for equipment and home changes, separate from your ongoing budget. You don’t have to save up your quarterly budget to pay for a grab rail. As at October 2026 there were three funding tiers for each of equipment and home modifications, with caps of $513, $2,052 and $15,390 over 12 months. Complex modifications can be given an extra 12 months.

You’ll usually pay a contribution towards the equipment or modifications themselves, but not towards the OT assessment. You can also pay for changes privately, and if you rent, talk to your landlord before anything is installed.

You don’t have to wait for government funding. Many people pay privately for cleaning, gardening, meals or nursing while they wait, or simply because they’d rather arrange it themselves. Ask what’s included, get prices in writing, and check that workers are insured and screened.

Family and friends often fill gaps too. If someone in your family is doing a lot of caring, Carer Gateway offers free support for carers, including counselling, coaching and respite. Your local council may also offer services for older residents, and many community groups run social activities and transport.

For some people, there comes a point where home is no longer the safest or happiest place, even with help. It might be repeated falls, nights alone that feel frightening, a carer who is worn out, or a house that has simply become too much.

That isn’t a failure. It’s information. A reassessment through My Aged Care may lead to more help at home. Or it may be time to look at a smaller home, a seniors community or an aged care home. Talking about it before a crisis gives you far more choice than deciding from a hospital bed.

Kindly put: it’s easier to plan a year early than a week too late.

• Falls or near misses are becoming more common.
• Meals are being skipped or the fridge is often empty.
• Bills, medicines or appointments are being missed.
• The person caring for you is exhausted.
• You feel lonely or unsafe much of the time.