Support at Home: The 8 Levels of In-Home Aged Care

What is “Support at Home”?

The Support at Home program is the Australian Government’s new model for funding in-home aged care services for older Australians who want to remain living at home. It replaces the previous Home Care Packages program (and Short-Term Restorative Care) from 1 November 2025.

Under Support at Home:

• You undergo an aged-care assessment (via My Aged Care) and are allocated one of eight classifications based on your ongoing need.
• You receive a quarterly budget that your provider draws on to deliver funded in-home services.
• The services are grouped into three categories: Clinical Care (e.g., nursing, allied health), Independence (e.g., personal care, transport, social support), and Everyday Living (e.g., domestic assistance, meal prep, home maintenance)
• For clinical supports, the government fully covers the cost; for other categories you may need to contribute depending on your pension/means status.

The 8 Ongoing Classifications (Levels) and What You Get

Below is a breakdown of each classification (Level 1 through Level 8) under Support at Home, what level of need it typically covers and the indicative budget. (Note: amounts are indexed annually and may change.)

Example service inclusions:

• For Level 1: “cleaning and tidying around the house, supporting your personal health, assistance with meals, shopping and transport.”
• For higher levels: “may include daily visits from a care worker or a nurse. May also include considerable home modifications based on your assessed needs.”

How These Compare to the Home Care Packages (HCP) Levels

Under the previous system (HCP), there were only four levels: Level 1 (basic), Level 2 (low-level), Level 3 (intermediate), Level 4 (high level).

Here’s a simplified comparison:

• HCP Level 1: Basic support (one-two visits/week; cleaning, meals, transport)
• HCP Level 2: Low-level needs (three-four visits/week; personal care, more frequent domestic assistance)
• HCP Level 3: Intermediate needs – more frequent skilled input, nursing/therapy, many visits.
• HCP Level 4: High level/complex needs – daily visits, nursing/clinical support, extensive home modifications.

In terms of funding, the HCP subsidies (annual approx) were roughly: Level 1 ~$10,698, Level 2 ~$18,812, Level 3 ~$40,946, Level 4 ~$62,076 per year.

Key differences under Support at Home:

• More levels of funding (8 instead of 4) to better align needs with support.
• Larger top-end budgets (Level 8 annual ~$78 k) compared to HCP Level 4 ~$62 k.
• More transparent carry-over rules and quarterly budgets.
• If already on HCP you will transition without loss of funding (“no worse off” assurance).

Charting It Visually

You might imagine it like a ladder:

• Step 1 (Smallest support budget) → Step 8 (Largest support budget)
• Each step corresponds to more frequent/complex care, more equipment, more allied health, more home management.
• HCP broadly covered Steps 1–4; Support at Home covers Steps 1–8 and gives more flexibility.

Why the Change?

The shift from HCP to Support at Home was driven by reforms from the Aged Care Act 2024 and the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. The government aimed to:

• Provide a more equitable and person-centred system.
• Improve access to equipment, home modifications, allied-health support.
• Provide more tailored funding — so people aren’t stuck in a too-small or too-large bundle for their actual care needs.