Moving from a Home Care Package to Support at Home: What Changed and What Is Protected

What happened on 1 November 2025

If you or a family member held a Home Care Package on 31 October 2025, nothing needed to be done. On 1 November the package was converted into a Support at Home classification, the provider agreement carried across, and services continued. The changes are mostly in the mechanics: how the budget is released, how contributions are worked out and how equipment is funded.

If you are still trying to understand what a Home Care Package was, our Home Care Packages guide covers the old program and how it maps to the new one.

Your funding: the transitioned classifications

Rather than being reassessed into the eight new levels, package holders were placed in one of four transitioned classifications with equivalent annual funding:

Old package	Transitioned classification	Quarterly budget	Annual equivalent
Level 1	Transitioned HCP Level 1	$2,818.04	$11,272.15
Level 2	Transitioned HCP Level 2	$4,955.44	$19,821.76
Level 3	Transitioned HCP Level 3	$10,787.18	$43,148.74
Level 4	Transitioned HCP Level 4	$16,353.98	$65,415.91

You stay on your transitioned classification until you are next reassessed. If your needs increase and you ask for a reassessment, you move onto the standard scale, where Classification 8 (about $80,000 a year) offers more than Level 4 ever did.

Your unspent funds are safe

This was the biggest worry for many families, and the answer is clear. Unspent Home Care Package funds as at 31 October 2025 carried over in full. They sit in a separate balance from your quarterly budget, have no cap and no expiry date, and you can draw on them whenever the quarterly budget is not enough. They are not lost on reassessment.

The one thing to understand is that new unspent money accumulates differently. Under Support at Home you can carry over the higher of $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget into the next quarter; anything above that returns to the program. So the old habit of banking a large balance "for later" no longer works with new funding, though your legacy balance keeps doing exactly that.

Your contributions: the no worse off principle

Support at Home charges a percentage of each service rather than daily fees. For new participants, that can mean paying more than a package holder in the same circumstances would have. The government's answer is the no worse off principle:

• If you had a Home Care Package on 12 September 2024, or
• were approved for one and on the National Priority System on that date,

then your contributions under Support at Home cannot exceed what you would have paid under the package rules. In practice:

• A full pensioner who was not paying an income-tested care fee continues to pay nothing.
• A part pensioner or self-funded retiree who was paying an income-tested care fee pays contributions no higher than that fee would have been.
• Your lifetime cap stays at the old package cap (around $84,500 at September 2025, indexed) rather than the higher Support at Home cap.

People approved for home care after 12 September 2024 are on the standard Support at Home contribution rates, though they benefit from personal care becoming free from 1 October 2026 like everyone else.

What is different day to day

• Quarterly budgets. Your annual amount is now released in four quarterly instalments. Providers manage this; you should not notice a gap.
• No package management fee. Providers can no longer charge the separate package management fee that ate into many packages. Care management is funded from the 10% built into the budget.
• No exit fees. Changing provider is free.
• Equipment funded separately. Walkers, rails, bathroom modifications and similar are funded through the AT-HM scheme rather than from your budget. See the services list guide.
• Statements look different. Your monthly statement now shows each service, its price, the government subsidy and your contribution, rather than a package balance and fees.

Your provider

Almost every Home Care Package provider registered for Support at Home, so your agreement simply continued. But the change is a natural moment to check that the arrangement still suits you. Because contributions are now tied to each provider's prices, a provider that was fine under a package may now be noticeably dearer than a neighbour. Choosing a Support at Home provider sets out what to compare, and the AusCareGuide directory lists alternatives in your area.

If your needs have grown since the transition

Contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and ask for a reassessment. You will be placed on the standard eight-level scale and may be approved for a higher classification, though you may wait for the additional funding to be allocated. How to apply for Support at Home explains the assessment and current waits.

Figures on this page are current as at August 2026. Support at Home budgets, contribution caps and pathway amounts are indexed on 20 March and 20 September each year, so always confirm the latest amounts with My Aged Care before making decisions. This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice.