Support at Home Calculator

What is Support at Home?

Support at Home is the Australian Government’s in-home aged care program. It started on 1 November 2025 and replaced the Home Care Packages Program. It helps older people stay in their own home for longer by funding a mix of clinical care, independence services and everyday living support.

Services can include nursing, personal care, allied health, transport, social support, respite, cleaning, gardening, meals and home maintenance. The program is not a cash payment. Funding is held by an approved provider and spent on the services in your agreed care plan, within a quarterly budget.

Support at Home uses eight classification levels. A higher level provides a larger annual budget for people with greater needs. The level is set after an assessment by the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT), based on what you can do and what help you need to live safely at home.

Who is eligible for Support at Home?

To be eligible for aged care at home, you generally need to:

• Be 65 or older, or 50 or older if you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.
• Live at home, or be planning to return home from hospital or residential care.
• Need ongoing help with everyday tasks because of age, health, disability or a decline in function.
• Be able to have your needs met safely at home with the support available.

You do not need to be on the Age Pension to be eligible. Self-funded retirees can access Support at Home, but they generally pay a higher contribution rate. The program is not asset-tested in the same way as residential aged care, and your home is not counted as an assessable asset.

If you are under 65 and have a disability, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) may be more appropriate. If you need short-term help after hospital, a reablement or transition care program may be available instead. My Aged Care can help direct you to the right pathway.

How the assessment works

The first step is to call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 or visit myagedcare.gov.au. The contact centre will ask about your situation and decide whether to refer you for an assessment. For higher-level or ongoing needs, that is usually an ACAT assessment, which can happen at home or by phone or video.

The assessor will ask about:

• Your day-to-day activities, such as showering, dressing, cooking, cleaning and getting around.
• Your health, medication, memory and any nursing needs.
• Your home, including stairs, access, safety and who lives with you.
• The support you already receive from family, friends and community services.
• What you want to achieve and what would help you stay independent.

If you are approved, you will be assigned a classification level and a budget. You then choose an approved provider, agree on a care plan and start services. There may be a wait for some levels or providers, so it is worth applying early and asking about interim support.

Support at Home levels and budgets

The annual budgets below apply from 1 October 2026. They are indexed periodically and include care management. The budget is not a cash entitlement and unspent funds do not roll over indefinitely.

The calculator maps “a little help” to levels 1–2, “several tasks” to levels 3–4, “most days” to levels 5–6 and “complex care” to levels 7–8. The actual level is set by the ACAT assessor and may be outside that range.

What you may pay

Support at Home has three service categories with different contribution rules:

• Clinical care — nursing, allied health and approved personal care. There is generally no participant contribution, subject to the available budget.
• Independence services — transport, social support and respite. Contributions range from about 5% for full pensioners to 50% for self-funded retirees.
• Everyday living services — cleaning, gardening, meals and home maintenance. Contributions range from about 17.5% to 80%.

The contribution rate is set by an income and assets assessment completed by Services Australia. It is similar to the Age Pension means test. Your home is not counted. Full age pensioners pay the lowest rates, part pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders pay somewhere in between, and self-funded retirees pay the highest.

There is a lifetime cap on participant contributions of $140,652.80. Once you reach the cap, you generally do not pay further contributions for non-clinical services. The cap is shared with residential aged care if you later move into a home. Financial hardship assistance is available for people who cannot afford their contributions.

The contribution estimate in the calculator is indicative only. It assumes 30% of the budget is spent on independence services, 30% on everyday living and 40% on clinical care, and applies the published minimum and maximum rates for your pension category. Your actual mix of services will change the result.

CHSP vs Support at Home

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) provides entry-level support for people who need one or two services, such as meals, transport, cleaning or social support. It has no income and assets assessment and no percentage contribution. Each provider sets its own contribution rate and must have a policy for people who cannot afford it.

CHSP has been extended to 30 June 2027. Support at Home is intended to replace it no earlier than 1 July 2027. Until then, CHSP clients keep their existing provider arrangements. If your needs are low, CHSP may be a better first step. If your needs are higher or likely to increase, Support at Home provides a larger and more structured budget.

If you are comparing the cost of care with your retirement savings, the super projection calculator shows how your balance may grow, while the investment calculator can model regular income from other savings. For paid care arrangements, the annual leave calculator is useful if you are managing a carer’s leave balance.