The Support at Home Program, Explained — and Where Daily Check-In Calls Fit
On 1 November 2025, the Support at Home program replaced Home Care Packages as the Australian Government’s main way of funding help for older people living at home. If your mum or dad had a package — or was on the waiting list — they’ve been moved across to the new system, and the letters, budgets and terminology all look different now.
This guide explains how Support at Home works in plain English: what changed from the old package levels, how to get assessed through My Aged Care, and the honest answer to a question many families ask us — can the program pay for daily check-in calls?
What Is the Support at Home Program?
Support at Home is the Australian Government program that funds in-home help for older people — things like nursing, personal care, cleaning, meals and transport — so they can keep living in their own home rather than moving into residential aged care. It commenced on 1 November 2025 alongside the new Aged Care Act, replacing the Home Care Package system that had run for years before it.
The shape of the program is different from what families got used to under the old packages. Four things matter most:
Funding classifications
Instead of the old four package levels, each participant is assigned a funding classification based on their assessed needs. The classification sets the size of the budget, and it can be reviewed if circumstances change.
Quarterly budgets
Budgets are managed quarter by quarter rather than as one annual amount. Your provider helps plan services against each quarter’s budget, with limited carry-over between quarters — ask exactly how unspent funds are treated.
A defined service list
The government publishes a defined list of services the funding can buy — clinical supports like nursing and allied health, supports that maintain independence like personal care, and everyday living help like cleaning and meals.
Means-based contributions
What a person contributes depends on their means and the type of service. Some services attract little or no contribution, while everyday living supports generally attract more. Check My Aged Care for how it lands in your situation.
The official detail lives on the government’s own pages — the Department of Health Support at Home pages for how the program is designed, and My Aged Care for what applies to your parent specifically. Because classifications, budgets and contributions vary from person to person, treat anything you read — including this page — as a starting point, not the final word on your family’s situation.
What Changed From Home Care Packages?
If you spent years learning the old system — Levels 1 to 4, annual budgets, income-tested care fees — most of that vocabulary has been retired. Our guide to Home Care Package levels is still useful for understanding the legacy system, but here’s what’s different now:
Levels became classifications
The four Home Care Package levels were replaced by a broader set of funding classifications, designed to match funding more closely to assessed need rather than fitting everyone into one of four boxes.
Annual budgets became quarterly
Instead of one yearly amount that could quietly accumulate, budgets now run quarter by quarter. That makes planning more regular, but it also means it’s worth sitting down with the provider each quarter to check the budget is actually being used.
A clearer service list
Under the old system, what a package could pay for was often argued case by case. Support at Home uses a defined national service list, so it’s clearer what’s in and what’s out — though providers still make judgement calls at the edges.
Contributions work differently
The old basic daily fee and income-tested care fee arrangements were replaced by contributions that vary with the type of service and the person’s means. What your parent actually pays is individual — confirm it before services start.
Already had a package? The government’s stated intention was that people already receiving a Home Care Package would not be left worse off by the transition. Exactly how that plays out depends on the individual’s circumstances — so rather than assuming, confirm your parent’s classification, budget and contributions with their provider and My Aged Care.
Who It’s For, and How to Get Assessed
Support at Home is for older people who need help to keep living safely at home — generally people aged 65 and over, or 50 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There’s no self-enrolment: everything starts with an assessment through My Aged Care, which decides both eligibility and the funding classification.
Contact My Aged Care
Start online at myagedcare.gov.au or phone 1800 200 422. You’ll answer some screening questions about your parent’s health, memory, daily routine and what they’re finding hard. You can call on their behalf with their consent.
Have the assessment
An assessor talks with your parent — usually at home — about their health, how they manage day to day, and what support already exists. It’s free, and it helps to have a family member there.
Receive a classification and support plan
If approved, your parent is assigned a funding classification and a support plan describing the kinds of services their budget can go towards. If you disagree with the outcome, you can ask for a review through My Aged Care.
Choose a provider and agree on services
You pick a Support at Home provider, who works with you to turn the quarterly budget into an actual schedule of services. You can change providers later if the fit isn’t right.
If your parent only needs entry-level help — or you’re bridging a gap while things are sorted out — the Commonwealth Home Support Programme is still operating separately for now. Our guide to CHSP-funded daily check-in calls covers how that side of the system works.
Where Daily Check-In Calls Fit
Here’s the honest answer. The Support at Home service list includes social support and wellbeing-style services, so a daily check-in call may be fundable for some participants — it depends on the person’s classification, what else their budget is carrying, and how their provider interprets the service list. If you want to explore it, ask the provider’s care partner directly; they know what the plan can absorb. We’ve written more about the funding side in our guide to aged care funding for daily calls.
In practice, though, most families don’t bother routing it through the budget. Kindly Call costs between about $2 and $12 a week depending on how often the calls happen — small enough that adding it privately is usually simpler than using quarterly budget room that could go towards nursing, personal care or cleaning instead. Prices shown are indicative and can change — the current figure is always on the sign-up page, and you see it before you ever pay a cent.
What the calls actually do: every day (or as often as you choose), your parent gets a friendly phone call at a time that suits them — a chat about how they slept, whether they’ve eaten, how they’re feeling. If something seems off, or the call goes unanswered, the family is alerted. It works on any phone with nothing to install. We’re upfront that the caller is an AI, and Kindly Call is not a medical or emergency service and doesn’t replace 000.
None of this is financial or medical advice — Support at Home details genuinely vary from person to person, so always confirm your family’s specifics with My Aged Care and the provider.
Support at Home: Common Questions
Is Support at Home the same as a Home Care Package?
No — Support at Home replaced Home Care Packages when the new Aged Care Act commenced on 1 November 2025. People who already had a package were moved across to the new program. The kind of help available is similar, but classifications, budgets and contributions all work differently, so check My Aged Care for how it applies to your family.
Can Support at Home funding pay for daily check-in calls?
Sometimes. Social support and wellbeing checks may be fundable depending on the participant’s classification and the provider’s approach — ask the provider’s care partner. That said, at roughly $2 to $12 a week, many families simply pay for Kindly Call privately so it never touches the care budget at all.
How do I get my parent assessed for Support at Home?
Through My Aged Care — online at myagedcare.gov.au or by phoning 1800 200 422. An assessor then looks at your parent’s health, daily living and home situation and, if they’re eligible, assigns a funding classification with a support plan. The assessment itself is free.
What if my parent was on the Home Care Package waiting list?
People who were approved or waiting under the old system were transitioned to Support at Home arrangements. Exactly what that means varies from person to person, so the safest step is to check your parent’s current status directly with My Aged Care.
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