The Support at Home (SAH) program is the most significant structural reform to home-based aged care in Australia's history. Launched on 1 November 2025, SAH replaced the Home Care Packages (HCP) program under the Aged Care Act 2024. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) has not yet transitioned — CHSP will move to Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027. For providers delivering HCP-equivalent services, the transition is not optional — every organisation delivering government-funded home care packages now operates under the SAH framework, and the compliance obligations are materially different from what came before.
In the months since launch, the operational reality is becoming clearer. Providers who adapted early are seeing the benefits of a more transparent funding model, while those who delayed system changes are struggling with quarterly budget cycles and per-service billing. This guide covers what you need to know to operate effectively under SAH.
What changed on 1 November 2025?
Before SAH, home-based aged care operated across two separate programs. The Home Care Packages program offered 4 package levels with a pooled annual budget and an income-tested daily care fee. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme provided entry-level services funded through block grants to providers, with minimal client contributions.
SAH replaced HCP with a new program that fundamentally changes how home care services are funded, delivered, and reported. CHSP continues to operate separately and will transition to Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027. The key structural differences from HCP are substantial. SAH uses 8 classification levels instead of 4 package levels, providing more granular funding aligned to assessed need. Funding is allocated as quarterly budgets with strict carry-over limits, rather than a single package balance that accumulates indefinitely. Client contributions are calculated per service across 3 categories, rather than as a flat daily fee. There is a mandatory wellness and reablement focus with required goal-setting in every care plan. And new short-term pathways provide time-limited funding for restorative care, allied health, and assistive technology.
For providers, this means rethinking how services are planned, scheduled, invoiced, and reported. Systems built for HCP management require significant modification — or replacement — to handle SAH requirements.
The 8 classification levels and annual budgets
SAH classifies clients into 8 levels based on assessed need, determined by the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). Each level carries a defined annual budget (effective 1 November 2025, subject to annual indexation on 1 July):
Level 1 — $10,731 per year. For people with low-level support needs, such as occasional domestic assistance or social support.
Level 2 — $16,034 per year. For people who need regular but limited support, such as weekly cleaning and some personal care.
Level 3 — $21,966 per year. For people with moderate support needs across multiple service types.
Level 4 — $29,696 per year. For people needing regular personal care and domestic assistance.
Level 5 — $39,697 per year. For people with higher care needs including clinical services.
Level 6 — $48,114 per year. For complex care needs requiring frequent clinical intervention.
Level 7 — $58,148 per year. For high-level complex care, often including nursing and allied health.
Level 8 — $78,106 per year. The highest level, for people with the most complex care needs who would otherwise require residential care.
Classification is determined by ACAT and reviewed periodically. Providers cannot self-assign classification levels. Reclassification requests can be submitted when a client's needs change materially, but the assessment must be conducted independently.
Quarterly budget allocation and carry-over rules
Under SAH, the annual budget is divided into quarterly allocations — each quarter, the client receives one-quarter of their annual budget. This is a fundamental shift from HCP, where the full package balance accumulated over time and could be spent flexibly.
Unspent funds at the end of a quarter can be carried over to the next quarter, but only up to a carry-over cap of 10% of the quarterly allocation or $1,000, whichever is greater. Any unspent amount above the carry-over cap is returned to the Commonwealth — it does not remain in the client's balance.
To illustrate: a Level 4 client has a quarterly allocation of $7,424.10 (one-quarter of $29,696.40). Their carry-over cap is $1,000 (the $1,000 minimum, since 10% of the quarterly allocation is only $742.41). If the client has $2,500 unspent at quarter-end, $1,000 carries forward and $1,500 is returned.
This creates a fundamentally different cash flow dynamic for providers. Under HCP, large unspent balances were common. Under SAH, services need to be delivered within the quarter they are funded for, and both over-delivery and under-delivery have consequences. Providers need systems that track quarterly budget consumption in real time, alert care coordinators when spending is tracking behind schedule, and generate carry-over calculations automatically at each quarter-end.
Per-service contributions: 3 categories, 3 assessment groups
The SAH contribution model replaces the income-tested care fee that applied under HCP. Instead of a single daily fee, clients pay a contribution as a percentage of the cost of each individual service, with the rate determined by the service category and the client's means-testing group. SAH retains the basic daily fee (17.5% of the single basic Age Pension per day) but replaces the income-tested care fee with per-service contributions.
Services fall into 3 categories:
Clinical and Therapeutic — nursing, allied health (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, dietetics, podiatry), wound care, continence management, medication management. These attract the lowest contribution rates because they are considered essential health services.
Independence — personal care, social support, respite care, meal preparation and delivery. These attract moderate contribution rates.
Everyday Living — domestic assistance, transport, home maintenance, garden maintenance, home modifications. These attract the highest contribution rates as they are considered more discretionary.
Clients are assessed into 3 means-testing groups by Services Australia:
Full-rate pensioners pay 0% clinical / 5% independence / 17.5% everyday living.
Part pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders pay 0% clinical / 5–50% independence / 17.5–80% everyday living. The exact rate within these ranges is individually determined by Services Australia based on the client's income and assets assessment.
Self-funded retirees (no CSHC) pay 0% clinical / 50% independence / 80% everyday living.
All contributions are subject to a lifetime cap ($135,319 for new entrants as at 1 November 2025, subject to indexation). There is no annual cap under SAH. For a detailed breakdown of how contributions, caps, and hardship provisions work in practice, see our guide on Support at Home contributions explained.
Wellness and reablement: a mandatory focus
SAH places mandatory emphasis on wellness and reablement — a shift from the maintenance-oriented approach that characterised many HCP services. Every SAH care plan must include measurable wellness goals, and providers must demonstrate that services are directed toward maintaining or improving the client's independence rather than simply sustaining the status quo.
In practice, this means care plans must include specific, time-bound goals — not generic statements like 'maintain current function'. Providers must review goals regularly and document progress or barriers. Services should be adjusted when goals are met, when progress stalls, or when the client's needs change. And there must be evidence that the client was genuinely involved in setting their own goals.
The ACQSC assesses wellness and reablement as part of Standard 3 (The Care and Services), which requires that care and services are person-centred, safe, and directed toward maintaining or improving the individual's independence and wellbeing. Providers who cannot demonstrate a genuine wellness approach — with documented goals, regular reviews, and evidence of client participation — risk adverse findings during assessment contacts.
Short-term pathways
SAH introduces short-term pathways that sit alongside the ongoing classification-based support. These are designed for time-limited, goal-oriented interventions and have their own budgets separate from the client's ongoing SAH classification budget:
Restorative care pathway — up to 12 weeks of intensive support following a health event (such as a hospital discharge or fall) to help the person regain independence. This replaces the former Short-Term Restorative Care Programme.
Allied health pathway — a focused block of allied health services (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology) to address a specific clinical need within a defined timeframe.
Assistive technology pathway — funding for assistive technology and home modifications that support independence, such as mobility aids, bathroom modifications, or communication devices.
Providers delivering short-term pathway services need to track these budgets independently from the client's ongoing SAH budget, document measurable outcomes at the end of each pathway period, and report on whether the intervention achieved its goals. Short-term pathways are a key part of the SAH wellness philosophy — they provide intensive support with the explicit aim of reducing or delaying the need for ongoing services.
What providers need to do to comply
Full SAH compliance is now expected of all providers delivering services under the program. Providers should ensure they have addressed the following:
Systems and billing. Your care management system must support quarterly budget tracking, per-service contribution calculations across all 3 categories and 4 tiers, and carry-over cap enforcement. Systems built for HCP daily-fee billing are unlikely to handle SAH requirements without significant modification.
Care planning. All care plans must include documented wellness and reablement goals with measurable outcomes. Plans should be reviewed at least quarterly, with progress against goals recorded.
Service catalogue. Every service your organisation delivers must be mapped to the correct SAH category (clinical and therapeutic, independence, or everyday living). Incorrect categorisation results in incorrect contribution calculations and potential compliance issues.
Client communications. Clients must receive clear statements showing each service delivered, its category, the contribution rate, the contribution amount, and the balance drawn from their government-funded budget.
Reporting. Providers must submit data to Services Australia and the Department of Health and Aged Care, including DEX reporting and financial acquittal. Quarterly budget reconciliation reports are required at the end of each quarter.
Statura Care's Support at Home module is purpose-built for SAH, handling quarterly budget tracking, automatic carry-over calculations, per-service contribution billing, wellness goal management, and short-term pathway tracking — part of 35 modules in Statura Care's aged care compliance software. For contribution details, see our guide on SAH contributions and caps.