How do I organise Support at Home service categories and prices?

• Since 1 October 2026, personal care is in the Clinical Supports contribution category, so participants pay no contribution for personal care delivered from that date; services delivered before 1 October still attract a contribution even if claimed later. Approved personal care draws on the available government-funded budget. This changes the contribution category only; service IDs, worker qualifications and delivery requirements remain unchanged.
• SAH ongoing services are organised into three categories: Clinical Care (fully government-funded), Independence (partial participant contribution), and Everyday Living (higher participant contribution). Assistive Technology & Home Modifications (AT–HM) is a separate funding stream with its own allocation pathway.
• Each service must map to a service item on the official SAH service list published by the Department of Health.
• Government price caps were scheduled for 1 July 2026 but were deferred by the Government in May 2026, with no commencement date currently set. If caps commence, limits would apply by service type rather than contribution category. Until then, providers set their own reasonable prices, and the ACQSC can order refunds where a provider has overcharged.
• If and when price caps commence, provider-set prices must be at or below the applicable cap. The 1 July 2026 start was deferred by the Government in May 2026; in the interim, providers are expected to charge prices that are reasonable and transparent.
• Prices must be published transparently — participants have the right to see what they are being charged before services are delivered, not discover it on a monthly statement.
• When the Department publishes revisions to the service list, providers must update their price books promptly and consistently.

Reference: Aged Care Act 2024 Chapter 4 (Support at Home pricing and service category framework); Support at Home Program Manual — service list and pricing schedule sections; Department of Health published SAH service list (price caps paused May 2026); Services Australia SAH operational material.

• Mapping services to the wrong category — particularly around the boundary between Clinical Care (0% participant contribution) and Independence (up to 50% contribution). A service miscategorised as Independence when it should be Clinical overcharges the participant; miscategorised the other way leaves revenue on the table.
• Forgetting to update prices when the Department publishes a revision. The price book sits on the old schedule, claims are submitted at old rates, and reconciliation becomes a mess.
• Not preparing for potential future price caps — the 1 July 2026 commencement was deferred by the Government in May 2026, but caps remain Government policy, and providers who haven't mapped their prices to the service list will scramble to comply when caps do commence.
• Not exposing pricing transparently to participants. The first time the participant sees the price is on their statement, which is too late for them to ask 'why?' or compare against a cheaper option.
• Applying a single 'house rate' across all services without reference to the published price list. Providers set reasonable prices and must use the correct service-list item code and contribution category.
• Treating Assistive Technology & Home Modifications as if it's in the same budget flow as day-to-day services. AT&HM has its own allocation and its own workflow, and mixing it up with service delivery produces budget chaos.

• The SAH service list records contribution categories and the provider’s price book. There is no current government cap schedule to enforce; providers must set reasonable prices, publish their most frequently charged price on My Aged Care and retain pricing records.
• Provider price book per tenant with reasonable-price records. Operators set their own prices for each service. Cap enforcement is built in and stays off until government caps commence.
• Price book version history — every change to the price book is recorded with date, operator, and reason, so the applicable price at any historical date can be reconstructed.
• Service-list update workflow — when the Department publishes a revision, operators update the service list centrally and review category mappings and their provider price book.
• Participant-facing pricing display through the family portal — participants can see the current service prices, so there are no surprises on the monthly statement.
• Service category mapping is built into every service record, so participant contributions and budget reporting always know which category the service belongs to.
• Review the service list and provider price book when official requirements change. Government price caps were paused in May 2026; do not treat a draft cap as a current government maximum.

Use these records to structure your evidence review. In your demonstration, check their history, attribution and export options against your organisation's requirements:

• Price book version history per tenant — every price change, effective date, operator who made the change, and the reason.
• Price-change log — the provider price, effective date, operator and reason for the change.
• Service-item-to-category mapping log showing the category assigned to each service in the provider's price book.
• Schedule revision sync log — when Department revisions were applied, the fields that changed, and any provider prices that were flagged for review.
• Participant pricing view history — what the participant saw on the portal at any historical date, so disputes can be evidenced against what was published at the time.