Level 3 Home Care Package: Funding and Entitlements (2026)
A Level 3 home care package was the intermediate level of the four Home Care Package levels, worth $115.22 a day (about $42,055 a year) when the program closed. If you held one on 1 November 2025, you are now a transitioned Support at Home participant with a Transitioned Level 3 budget of $43,233.21 a year. New applicants receive one of eight classifications instead. The nearest by budget are Classification 5 ($40,809.27) and Classification 6 ($49,461.91).
Key points
- Home Care Packages closed to new entrants on 1 November 2025, when Support at Home started
- Transitioned Level 3 budget: $43,233.21 a year, or $10,808.30 a quarter, indexed each 1 July
- 10% of each quarterly budget goes to care management
- Hours are not fixed. At $100 an hour for personal care, the budget buys about 7.5 hours a week
- Clinical supports, including nursing and personal care, have no participant contribution
- If you were approved for a package on or before 12 September 2024, the no worse off principle applies to what you pay
What was a Level 3 home care package?
Level 3 was the Home Care Package level for people with intermediate care needs. It sat between Level 2 (low-level needs) and Level 4 (high-level needs).
The program closed on 1 November 2025. Support at Home replaced it on the same day. Nobody can be assessed for Level 3 now.
| Your situation on 31 October 2025 | What you have now |
|---|---|
| Receiving a Level 3 package | A Transitioned Home Care Package Level 3 budget under Support at Home |
| Approved for Level 3 but still waiting | A place in the Support at Home Priority System. You receive the Transitioned Level 3 budget when funding is allocated |
| Not yet assessed | A new assessment and one of the eight Support at Home classifications |
You keep the transitioned budget until you are reassessed. If a reassessment finds higher needs, you move to a Support at Home classification (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026).
How much funding do you get?
A Transitioned Level 3 budget is $43,233.21 a year, released as $10,808.30 each quarter. These amounts include the 10% set aside for care management.
For new applicants, three classifications sit around that figure:
| Budget | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Classification 4 | $30,528.15 |
| Classification 5 | $40,809.27 |
| Transitioned Home Care Package Level 3 | $43,233.21 |
| Classification 6 | $49,461.91 |
This is a comparison by dollars. The department does not publish a conversion from Level 3 to a classification. Your assessor decides the classification from your needs.
Budgets are indexed on 1 July each year, and the department can adjust them at other times. It did so on 1 October 2026 after a Nurses Award increase. The Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Support at Home shows the amount that applies today.
What the old package paid
| Date | Level 3 daily subsidy | Annual equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| From 1 July 2024 | $111.04 | About $40,530 |
| At 1 October 2025 (final rate) | $115.22 | About $42,055 |
Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements for Aged Care (Before 1 November 2025).
Level 3 entitlements for transitioned recipients
- The Transitioned Level 3 budget, released quarterly
- Any unspent Home Care Package funds you held. No carryover limit applies to them, and they move with you if you change provider
- Carryover of up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, whichever is greater
- Access to the AT-HM scheme for equipment and home modifications, using unspent package funds first
- The no worse off principle on contributions, if you were approved on or before 12 September 2024
- The right to change provider without entry or exit fees
What services does intermediate care cover?
Your budget pays for services on the Support at Home service list that are in your support plan. The list has three contribution categories.
Clinical supports
- Nursing care: wound care, clinical continence management and medication administration
- Allied health: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech pathology, dietetics, social work and psychology
- Personal care: showering, dressing, eating, hygiene, non-clinical continence support and help to self-administer medication
- Prescribed nutrition products
- Care management
Independence
- Respite in your home or in the community
- Transport, with a driver and car or through taxi and rideshare vouchers
- Social support, accompanied activities and cultural support
- Therapeutic services such as remedial massage in a prescribed treatment plan
Everyday living
- Domestic assistance: cleaning, laundry and shopping help
- Home maintenance, repairs and essential light gardening
- Meal preparation and meal delivery
Funded separately
- Assistive technology and home modifications, through the AT-HM scheme. The tiers are $513, $2,052 and $15,390
- Residential respite, through the residential aged care system
Some things are out of scope whatever your level: groceries and meal ingredients, relaxation massage, hairdressing, pest control, tree removal, and anything Medicare or another program should fund. See our guide to Support at Home inclusions and exclusions.
How many hours per fortnight?
There is no set number of hours for Level 3. Providers set their own prices, so the same budget buys different hours with different providers.
Here is a worked example. It uses the department’s indicative national median prices, which came from a provider survey and are not price caps.
Step 1. Transitioned Level 3 budget: $43,233.21 a year.
Step 2. Take off 10% for care management. About $38,830 a year is left for services, or about $747 a week.
Step 3. Divide by the price of the services you use.
| Service | Assumed weekday price | Hours a week | Weekly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal care | $100 an hour | 4 | $400 |
| Registered nurse | $160 an hour | 1 | $160 |
| Domestic assistance | $95 an hour | 1.5 | $142.50 |
| Total | 6.5 | $702.50 |
That mix is 13 hours a fortnight, with about $45 a week left for transport or a physiotherapy visit. If the whole budget went on weekday personal care at $100 an hour, it would buy about 7.5 hours a week, or 15 hours a fortnight.
A dearer provider, weekend visits or more nursing all reduce the hours. Compare full price lists before you sign. Our Support at Home prices guide explains how, and the Support at Home calculator lets you model your own mix.
Who is intermediate care for?
Level 3 was for people with intermediate care needs. That often means someone who:
- Needs help with personal care most days
- Has a chronic condition that needs regular nursing
- Uses allied health regularly, not occasionally
- Has early to mid-stage dementia
- Is recovering from a stroke, fracture or major surgery
- Has a family carer who needs respite
Under Support at Home, your assessor sets the classification from your needs. If you mainly need personal care and household help, read about the Level 2 home care package. If you need daily nursing or are close to needing residential care, read about the Level 4 home care package. The entry level is covered in our Level 1 guide.
How to apply
You cannot apply for Level 3 any more. New applicants apply for an aged care assessment and receive a Support at Home classification.
- Check you meet the requirements. You need care needs and must be 65 or older, or 50 or older if you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person or are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
- Apply for an assessment. Use the form at myagedcare.gov.au or call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. Our My Aged Care registration guide walks through it.
- Have the assessment. An assessment organisation contacts you, usually within 2 to 6 weeks, and visits you at home.
- Read your Notice of Decision. It lists your classification, your priority category and your support plan.
- Wait for funding. Funding is allocated through the Support at Home Priority System.
- Choose a provider. You have 56 days from your funding letter to sign a service agreement and start services. My Aged Care can give you 28 more days.
How long is the wait? My Aged Care’s estimates at 30 June 2026 were within 1 month for urgent priority, 1 month for high, 5 to 6 months for medium and 7 to 8 months for standard. If waits run long, you may be given 60% of your budget as interim funding.
Assessment tips:
- Describe your worst days, not your best
- Ask your carer to explain what they do for you
- Bring letters from your GP or specialist
- List every task you struggle with
Estimate your level: Take our free Aged Care Assessment Quiz to see which level of support might suit your needs.
Already on a Transitioned Level 3 budget? You do not need to reapply. More detail is in our guide to home care package eligibility.
Costs and fees
Under Support at Home you only pay a contribution on services you receive. The percentage depends on the type of service and on your income and assets.
Service-based contributions
| Your assessment outcome | Clinical supports | Independence | Everyday living |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full pensioner | 0% | 5% | 17.5% |
| Part pensioner or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holder | 0% | Between 5% and 50% | Between 17.5% and 80% |
| Self-funded without a Seniors Health Card, or means not disclosed | 0% | 50% | 80% |
Personal care has counted as a clinical support for contributions since 1 October 2026. You pay nothing for it if it is in your support plan. Care management also has no contribution.
No worse off principle
If you were receiving or approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024:
- If you were assessed as having to pay an income-tested care fee at 31 October 2025, you pay the same or less under Support at Home
- If you were assessed as not having to pay one, you will never be asked to pay contributions under Support at Home
If you were approved after 12 September 2024, the standard rates in the table apply.
Lifetime cap
Contributions stop once you reach the lifetime cap. The standard cap is $140,652.80. If the no worse off principle applies to you, the cap is $88,934.57. Both figures are as at 20 September 2026 and are indexed each 20 March and 20 September.
If you cannot afford your contributions, ask Services Australia about financial hardship assistance.
Support at Home changes
Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program on 1 November 2025. For someone who held Level 3, the main changes are:
- Budget. You keep a Transitioned Level 3 budget. It is released quarterly
- Classifications. Eight classifications replaced the four levels for new applicants. See Classification 4, Classification 5 and Classification 6
- Care management. A flat 10% of the quarterly budget
- Contributions. A percentage of each service, with none for clinical supports
- Equipment and modifications. Funded through the separate AT-HM scheme
- Assessment. The Single Assessment System has done all aged care needs assessments since 9 December 2024. It replaced the ACAT assessment
- Prices. Providers set their own. Government price caps were deferred in May 2026
Read our Support at Home program guide for the full picture.
Intermediate care vs other levels of support
The table compares the three upper Home Care Package levels as they stand for transitioned recipients. Hours are worked examples at $100 an hour for weekday personal care after 10% care management. They are not entitlements.
| Feature | Former Level 2 | Former Level 3 | Former Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final daily subsidy (1 October 2025) | $52.93 | $115.22 | $174.68 |
| Transitioned budget now | $19,860.56 | $43,233.21 | $65,543.98 |
| Nearest classifications by budget | 2 and 3 | 5 and 6 | 7 and 8 |
| Worked example hours a week | About 3.5 | About 7.5 | About 11 |
| Care needs the level was for | Low-level | Intermediate | High-level |
For all eight classifications, read our home care packages complete guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much was a Level 3 home care package?
The final Level 3 basic subsidy was $115.22 a day, about $42,055 a year, at 1 October 2025. Transitioned recipients now have $43,233.21 a year.
What are the Level 3 home care package entitlements now?
A budget of $43,233.21 a year, your unspent package funds, access to the AT-HM scheme, and the no worse off principle on contributions if you were approved on or before 12 September 2024. The full list is under Level 3 entitlements.
How many hours per fortnight?
It depends on your provider’s prices. At $100 an hour for weekday personal care, a Transitioned Level 3 budget buys about 15 hours a fortnight after care management. A plan with nursing and allied health buys fewer hours.
What is the difference between Level 2 and Level 3 care?
Level 2 was for low-level care needs and Level 3 for intermediate needs. The transitioned budgets are $19,860.56 and $43,233.21 a year. The larger budget leaves room for regular nursing and allied health on top of personal care.
Does intermediate care cover nursing care?
Yes. Nursing is a clinical support, so you pay no contribution. The visit still draws on your budget at your provider’s price.
Can I get home modifications?
Yes, through the AT-HM scheme. Your assessor approves a funding tier of $513, $2,052 or $15,390. High tier home modifications are capped at $15,390 over a lifetime. Transitioned participants use unspent package funds first.
How long is the wait?
It depends on your priority category. My Aged Care’s estimates at 30 June 2026 ranged from within 1 month for urgent priority to 7 to 8 months for standard priority.
What is the difference between intermediate and high care?
Level 4 was for high-level care needs and carries a transitioned budget of $65,543.98 a year. It suits people who need daily personal care and regular nursing and who would otherwise be considering residential care.
Resources
- Funding classifications for Support at Home - Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
- Support at Home costs and contributions - My Aged Care
- Assessment outcome: Support at Home - wait times and priority categories
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission - complaints about a provider
Find an intermediate care provider
Carevo is a connection platform. We do not deliver care. We connect you with aged care providers that deliver intermediate and high-level home care so you can compare price lists, services and availability before you sign a service agreement.
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