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Support at Home One Year On: What Has Changed, Wait Times, and What's Next

Support at Home One Year On

Support at Home one year on looks like this. It began on 1 November 2025, replacing the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme, alongside the new Aged Care Act 2024. At 31 March 2026, 364,723 people had access to an ongoing in-home place, and 338,049 of them were receiving care.

About 100,000 people were waiting for an ongoing place at that date, and many are still waiting. Personal care became fully funded for eligible participants from 1 October 2026. If you or someone you love is waiting, there are practical things you can do now.

What is Support at Home and when did it start?

Support at Home is the Australian Government’s program for older people who need help to keep living at home. It started on 1 November 2025 and replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme. If you want the full detail on how it works, our Support at Home guide covers it.

From Home Care Packages to Support at Home on 1 November 2025

People who already had a Home Care Package (HCP) moved across to Support at Home, with protections known as the “no worse off” principle designed to keep their existing arrangements from getting worse. Everyone assessed since then enters the program directly. Our guide for carers and family members explains what this means if you are supporting someone through the change.

How the program works in brief

Funding is set by an assessment through My Aged Care. People are placed in one of eight classifications, each with a quarterly budget. There are three pathways: ongoing support, the Restorative Care Pathway, which replaced short-term restorative care, for short-term help to regain independence, and the End-of-Life Pathway. Assistive technology and home modifications are funded separately through the AT-HM scheme.

What has changed in the law since Support at Home started

Here are the main Support at Home changes since the start of the program, and the wider aged care reforms of 2026. For the full picture on this year’s rules, see our guide to the 2026 Support at Home changes.

Support at Home and aged care changes timeline, November 2024 to June 2029
Date What happened
25 November 2024 The Aged Care Bill 2024 passed Parliament
19 September 2025 The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 received Royal Assent
1 November 2025 The Aged Care Act 2024 commenced and Support at Home began
19 May 2026 The Government announced a deferral of the price caps due to start on 1 July 2026, with new consumer protections
1 October 2026 Personal care became fully funded for eligible participants
15 October 2026 An independent review of the aged care assessment tool was announced, with a report due in the first half of 2027
30 June 2029 CHSP grant funding extended by two years to this date

The biggest change behind the scenes is the Aged Care Act 2024, which started on the same day as Support at Home. Here is what has happened, from the Act itself to the updates made since.

The Aged Care Act 2024 in plain language

The Aged Care Bill 2024 passed Parliament on 25 November 2024, and the Aged Care Act 2024 commenced on 1 November 2025. It is now the main law governing aged care services in Australia, and it puts the rights of older people first.

In everyday terms, the Aged Care Act 2024 aims to:

  • give people more choice and control over the care they receive
  • protect people from mistreatment, neglect and unsafe care
  • provide advocacy and complaints channels, without reprisal

Providers must now register with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and act consistently with the Statement of Rights. They also need to meet strengthened Quality Standards and a Code of Conduct, follow new statutory duties of care, and make sure their workers meet screening requirements. 

The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 19 September 2025 and made adjustments to help the new system work as intended, including:

  • Providers can charge for late cancellations or no-shows if their service agreement says so.
  • Caps on cleaning and gardening services were removed.
  • Interim places can be allocated during times of high demand, set at 60 percent of the funding for a full place under the Aged Care Rules 2025.
  • The “no worse off” principle was reinforced for people moving from Home Care Packages, including carrying over unspent funds.
  • Parliament added commitments to release 20,000 Home Care Packages by 31 October 2025 and at least 63,000 home support places by 30 June 2026.
  • The Aged Care Quality Standards must be reviewed every five years.

What this means for you: You now have rights written into law, a clearer path to raise concerns or make a complaint, and providers who are held to a higher standard. If something does not feel right about your care, you are entitled to ask questions and to be heard.

Personal care is now fully funded from 1 October 2026

From 1 October 2026, personal care moved from the independence category to clinical supports, which means it is fully funded for eligible participants. Personal care covers help with things like showering, dressing and getting around the home. If you were wondering whether personal care at home costs anything now, the short answer is that eligible participants no longer contribute to it, though other services may still involve contributions. We explain what the Support at Home personal care changes mean in practice in our guide to fully funded personal care. Kanda’s personal care services are delivered by support workers who get to know you, your routines and what matters to you.

Price caps deferred and new consumer protections introduced

In May 2026, the Government announced that it would defer the Support at Home price caps that were due to start on 1 July 2026, and the deferral was reported as indefinite. At the same time, it announced new consumer protections. As reported, these include:

  • The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will be able to order refunds where providers are found to be overcharging.
  • The Commission will be able to act against providers that do not issue monthly statements.
  • Reports comparing Support at Home prices across providers will be published.
  • Providers are encouraged to limit price increases to no more than two a year.

In the meantime, providers generally set their own Support at Home prices, so it is sensible to ask for prices in writing before you agree to any home care services. You can see how Kanda’s prices work on our Support at Home pricing page.

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme extended to 2029

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) had been due to move to the new program no earlier than 1 July 2027. The Government has since extended CHSP grant funding by two years, to 30 June 2029, so older people can keep accessing CHSP entry-level support in the meantime.

The Department has said it plans to consult on the future of CHSP, including funding, contributions, early intervention and pathways to more complex care, but we have not found a confirmed date for any move to the new program. If you currently receive help through CHSP, nothing changes straight away, and it is worth keeping an eye on the Department’s updates.

An independent review of the aged care assessment tool

On 15 October 2026, the Government announced an independent review of the aged care classification and prioritisation assessment mechanisms, including the Integrated Assessment Tool. This is the tool used to work out your funding classification and your priority for Support at Home. An expert advisory group will support the review, and the report is due in the first half of 2027, when it is to be published in full and tabled in Parliament. The terms of reference were to be released in the coming weeks.

What is still being worked through

A year in, parts of the system are still being worked out. We are waiting on the details of the price cap replacement and when the new consumer protections will start, the findings of the assessment tool review in the first half of 2027, and the future of CHSP. Wait times also remain under pressure, which we look at next. Where details are not yet confirmed, we have said so, and we will update this guide as official information is released.

How many people are now on Support at Home?

The most recent official program data we have is for 31 March 2026, from the Support at Home Program Data Report published by GEN Aged Care Data. Here is what it shows.

Who has access and who is receiving care

At 31 March 2026, 364,723 people had access to an ongoing in-home place. Of these, 338,049 were receiving care, and 26,675 had been assigned a place and were considering it. That is about 26 percent more people with access than a year earlier, when the figure was 289,481 at 31 March 2025.

It is worth knowing that “access to a place” is not the same as “receiving care”. Some people have been assigned a place but are still choosing a provider or deciding what support they want.

Approvals and new places released

In the March quarter of 2026 (January to March), there were 60,709 new Support at Home classification approvals. In the same quarter, 79,145 ongoing places were released, or about 6,088 a week. Of the 83,000 places announced in September 2025, 61,500 had been released by 31 March 2026. At that date there were 950 approved providers.

Registered Support at Home providers

At 31 March 2026, there were 950 approved Support at Home providers. Early reporting on the June 2026 quarter suggests 939 registered providers. Because providers must now register with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, it is a good idea to ask any provider you are considering about its registration.

Source: Support at Home program data report 1 January – 31 March 2026

How Long is the Support at Home waitlist?

This is the question most families ask, and it deserves a straight answer: for many people, the wait is long.

How many people are waiting

At 31 March 2026, 100,191 people were waiting for an ongoing Support at Home place. Waiting numbers can move from quarter to quarter, and later figures may be higher, so it is worth checking the latest reports from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and GEN-agedcaredata.

How long people wait, by priority

People are placed in a priority group when their assessment is approved. At 31 March 2026, the numbers waiting and the estimated wait from approval were:

Support at Home priority groups: people waiting and estimated wait from approval, as at 31 March 2026
Priority People waiting Estimated wait from approval
Urgent 88 Within 1 month
High 1,637 1 to 2 months
Medium 23,449 6 to 7 months
Standard 75,017 7 to 8 months

The Department also publishes an “elapsed time” measure, which is the time from when an application starts to when a service begins. It uses the term “elapsed time” rather than “waiting time”, because the measure includes periods that are not time spent waiting. For services that started between April and June 2026:

  • Ongoing Support at Home: an average of 306 days and a median of 297 days
  • Restorative Care Pathway: an average of 79 days and a median of 64 days
  • End-of-Life Pathway: an average of 32 days and a median of 14 days

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Aged Care Act 2024 Wait Times Report, Quarter 4 2025-26, published 11 August 2026.

Support at Home Waitlist

What helps while you wait

You do not have to wait with nothing in place. Interim places can give you some funding while you wait for your full classification, set at 60 percent of the funding for a full place. The Restorative Care Pathway and the End-of-Life Pathway move much faster than ongoing support, so ask your assessor whether either could apply to your situation.
If you are leaving hospital, Transition Care (sometimes called transitional care) may also be an option, and our guide to going home from hospital explains how it works with Support at Home.

Explore Transition Care Going Home from Hospital Guide

What does Support at Home look like day to day?

Behind the numbers are everyday routines: a shower, a meal, a nurse visit, a ramp at the front door. Here is how things look for people on the program after a year.

Budgets and contributions after a year

Each classification comes with a quarterly budget, and as at 1 July 2026 annual budgets range from $11,010 to $80,137 depending on classification. What you contribute depends on the type of service and your circumstances. If you want to stretch your funding further, our guide on how to make your Support at Home budget go further is a good place to start. 

See Kanda’s Support at Home Pricing 

What Happens After Your Aged Care Assessment

Personal care fully funded from 1 October 2026

One of the most practical changes of the year: from 1 October 2026, personal care is fully funded for eligible participants. Personal care covers help with things like showering, dressing and getting around the home. Kanda’s personal care services are delivered by support workers who get to know you, your routines and what matters to you.

Services families rely on

For many people, it is the combination of supports that makes staying at home work. Community nursing can look after wound care and medications, allied health can help with mobility and recovery, and in-home respite gives carers a genuine break. If you are not happy with your current provider, you can change, and our guide to changing home care providers explains how. If the person you care for is a veteran, it is also worth reading about Support at Home and Veterans’ Home Care.

What can older people and families do now?

If you are waiting for Support at Home, or helping someone who is, these steps can make a difference:

  1. Check your assessment and priority. Log in to My Aged Care or call 1800 200 422 to confirm your approval, classification and priority.
  2. Ask about interim funding. If you have been approved but not yet assigned a full place, ask whether an interim place is available.
  3. Look at the other pathways. Ask whether the Restorative Care Pathway, the End-of-Life Pathway or Transition Care could apply to you right now.
  4. Choose a provider early. Speaking to providers before your place is assigned means you are ready to start when it is. Our My Aged Care assessment guide can help you get ready.
  5. Set up a registered supporter. If a family member is helping, register them as a supporter on your My Aged Care account so they can communicate your wishes and request information on your behalf.
  6. Ask about equipment and home modifications. The AT-HM scheme sits outside your regular budget, so it is worth asking about early. Our allied health team can support you with mobility and recovery, and our guide to assistive technology and home modifications explains how the scheme works.
  7. Write down your questions. About fees, cancellations and what is included, and ask for the answers in writing.

You do not have to work all of this out alone. Whether you are still waiting, have just been assigned a place, or are looking at changing providers, our team can talk through what support could look like for you, from personal care and community nursing to in-home respite for carers. You can request home care support or talk to our team at any time.

How Kanda supports people on Support at Home

Kanda delivers a range of home care services across personal care, community nursing, allied health and respite. We start with the person: what matters to them, what they want to keep doing, and what their home and routines look like. Then we build the support around that.

If you are not sure where to start, you can request home care and we will talk through your options with you.

Frequently asked questions

Support at Home is the Australian Government's program that helps older people live at home. It began on 1 November 2025 and replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme.

The Aged Care Act 2024 started on the same day, putting the rights of older people at the centre of the system. Amendments passed in September 2025 adjusted how the new system works, price caps due in July 2026 were deferred, and from 1 October 2026 personal care is fully funded for eligible participants.

At 31 March 2026, 364,723 people had access to an ongoing in-home place, and 338,049 of them were receiving care. This is the most recent official figure we have found, so check GEN Aged Care Data for newer repor

At 31 March 2026, 100,191 people were waiting for an ongoing place. For services that started between April and June 2026, the Department reported a median elapsed time of 297 days for ongoing support, 64 days for the Restorative Care Pathway and 14 days for the End-of-Life Pathway. Individual waits depend on priority and circumstances.

It depends on the person. Support at Home was designed with more pathways, including restorative care and end-of-life support, and people already on a Home Care Package are generally protected by the "no worse off" principle. Our guide to Home Care Packages explains how the two compare.

From 1 October 2026, personal care is fully funded for eligible participants. Other services may still involve contributions, depending on the service type and your circumstances.

Check your approval and priority on My Aged Care, ask about interim funding, find out whether another pathway could apply, and start talking to providers early.

Talk to our Team About Support at Home

A year in, Support at Home is still finding its feet, and it is normal to have questions. If you would like a plain-language conversation about your options, enquire below and our team will be happy to help, with no pressure and no jargon.

Support Coordinators, allied health professionals, hospital discharge teams and family members can also send a referral below.
For official information, visit My Aged Care, or Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.

Send a referral Enquire here