From Home Care Packages to Support at Home: What Changed for Providers
What changed for providers when Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages: automatic transition, no price caps, care management, and what to check in your software.
What changed when Home Care Packages ended?
Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages (HCP) and the Short-Term Restorative Care program on 1 November 2025. Existing HCP participants moved across automatically on that date onto transitional classifications that kept their funding level and their unspent funds. Sources: Department of Health and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
What is different for your operations
Package levels are gone for new participants. New participants sit in one of eight funding classifications. Former HCP participants carry one of four transitioned classifications.
Funding is a quarterly budget. It is one pool with a care management deduction, and the three service categories decide contributions. See the quarterly budget.
No price caps at present. Providers set their own prices, which must be reasonable, transparent and cost-based, published on the provider's website and the My Aged Care portal.
Claims go through the Aged Care Provider Portal. The old package claiming process is replaced. See how to bill Support at Home.
Registration categories 1 to 5 apply. Because every provider delivers care management, you are assessed against Standards 1 to 4 plus Outcome 5.1. The Strengthened Quality Standards commenced on 1 November 2025 with the Aged Care Act 2024.
The "no worse off" principle covers some participants. It applies to participants receiving or approved for HCP on or before 12 September 2024, and it is about contributions, not a general guarantee of funding.
CHSP continues for now. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme was extended to 30 June 2029, with Support at Home replacing it no earlier than 1 July 2027.
What to check in your software
Does it still describe clients by package level? Does it record a Service ID per visit, a quarterly budget, and contributions by category? Does it apply the 1 October 2026 personal care change by service date? If any answer is no, ask the vendor for a date.
Start with Support at Home software: the 2026 guide. The program overview is at Support at Home explained, and the workforce view at what the reform means for your operations.
Frequently asked questions
Did HCP participants have to reapply?
No. They moved automatically on 1 November 2025.
Did unspent HCP funds disappear?
No. Participants kept their unspent funds on the transitional classification.
Is CHSP still running?
Yes. It was extended to 30 June 2029.