Support at Home Prices 2026: Indicative Costs

Support at Home Prices 2026: What You Will Actually Pay

The Australian aged care system is undergoing its biggest reform in decades. From 1 November 2025, the new Support at Home program replaces the existing Home Care Packages (HCP) Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme.

For a full overview of the new system, see our complete guide to the Support at Home Program.

If you or a loved one receive in-home care, understanding what services cost under this new system is essential. This guide covers indicative prices, price caps, co-contributions, and how to compare providers so you can make confident decisions about your care.

How the Support at Home Pricing Structure Works

Support at Home uses a fundamentally different pricing model from the old Home Care Packages. Here is how it works:

1. Government funding allocation - You are assessed and classified into a level (1 through 8) that determines your total quarterly budget
2. Itemised service pricing - Each service has a listed price per unit (hourly rate, per trip, or per meal)
3. Price caps - The government plans to set maximum prices providers can charge for each service category (scheduled for 1 July 2026 but deferred in May 2026, with no confirmed new date)
4. Co-contributions - You pay a portion of the service cost out of pocket, based on the service type and your financial means
5. Government subsidy - The remainder is paid directly to your provider by the government

This structure gives you far more visibility into where your money goes compared to the old system. For details on how classification levels work, see our guides on Support at Home classification levels 1-3 and levels 4-8.

Price Caps: How the Government Protects You

One of the planned changes under Support at Home is the introduction of government-set price caps, which would set the maximum amount a provider can charge for each service. Price caps were scheduled to begin 1 July 2026 but were deferred in May 2026, with no confirmed new start date. In the meantime, separate entry and exit fees remain banned, and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission can order refunds for overcharging.

What price caps will mean for you once they take effect:

• Providers can charge up to the cap, but never above it
• Providers are free to charge less than the cap, creating competition
• Caps are set per service type and reviewed regularly
• The Department of Health and Aged Care publishes updated cap schedules on their website

Price caps are intended to address one of the biggest complaints about the old Home Care Packages system, where some providers charged well above market rates for basic services with limited accountability.

Important: Price caps are different from the indicative prices listed below. The indicative prices come from a provider survey and show what providers expect to charge. Once in effect, price caps would be the legal maximum (their planned 1 July 2026 start was deferred in May 2026, with no confirmed new date).

Understanding Co-Contributions: What You Pay Out of Pocket

Under Support at Home, services fall into three categories, each with different co-contribution rules:

Clinical Care (No Co-Contribution)

Services like nursing care, allied health therapy, and other clinical interventions have zero co-contribution. The government covers these fully from your budget allocation. This protects people who need the most intensive health support.

Independence Services (Lower Co-Contribution)

Services that help you maintain independence, such as assistive technology, home modifications, and some therapy-related supports, carry a percentage co-contribution based on your means assessment. It ranges from 5% of the service cost for full pensioners up to 50% for self-funded retirees.

Everyday Living Services (Means-Tested Co-Contribution)

Services like domestic assistance, meal preparation, gardening, and transport have a co-contribution that depends on your income and assets assessment.

Personal care (showering, dressing, grooming, non-clinical continence, eating, hygiene, and help self-administering medication) is treated differently. Until 1 October 2026 contributions applied, but from then personal care moves into clinical supports and is fully government funded, with no participant contribution.

• Full pensioners with minimal assets pay the lowest co-contribution
• Part pensioners pay a moderate co-contribution
• Self-funded retirees pay a higher co-contribution, up to a defined cap

Your specific co-contribution is calculated by Services Australia based on your means assessment. The government has released an online calculator to help you estimate your personal costs, and you can also estimate your Support at Home budget and contributions with our funding calculator.

To understand how income testing works in detail, read our guide on the income-tested care fee.

Support at Home Fees and Contributions 2026

People often search for Support at Home fees, but the program does not work like a list of flat charges. What you pay is a participant contribution set by service category, and the rate depends on your means assessment. There are no separate entry or exit fees at all, those are banned. Here is the full fee picture for 2026.

• Clinical care is free. Nursing, allied health, and other clinical interventions carry 0% contribution for everyone, regardless of income or assets.
• Independence services: 5% to 50%. Assistive technology, home modifications, and related supports run from 5% for full pensioners up to 50% for self-funded retirees.
• Everyday living services: 17.5% to 80%. Domestic assistance, meals, gardening, and transport run from 17.5% for full pensioners up to 80% for self-funded retirees.

The two middle bands are means-tested sliding scales, not fixed rates. Full pensioners sit at the bottom of each range and self-funded retirees at the top. Part-pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders fall somewhere in between based on their assessed means, so their rate is calculated individually rather than fixed. Full pensioners can read more in our guide to Support at Home for full pensioners.

From 1 October 2026, personal care becomes fully government funded as it moves into clinical supports, so there is no contribution on personal care from that date.

Your contributions are also capped over your lifetime. The lifetime contribution cap is $135,318.69 (as at 1 November 2025, indexed twice a year). People in the no worse off cohort, those on or approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024, keep the lower HCP lifetime cap of $86,185.23. Once you reach your cap, you pay no further contributions for the rest of your life. To estimate your own fees, use our Support at Home calculator.

What fees do you pay under Support at Home? Support at Home fees come as participant contributions set by service category, not flat charges. Clinical care, including nursing and allied health, is free with no contribution for anyone. Independence services run from 5% for full pensioners up to 50% for self-funded retirees. Everyday living services run from 17.5% for full pensioners up to 80% for self-funded retirees. The two middle bands are means-tested sliding scales, so part-pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders pay a rate between those bounds rather than a fixed percentage. Separate entry and exit fees are banned. Your total contributions are capped over your lifetime at $135,318.69 (as at 1 November 2025, indexed twice a year), and from 1 October 2026 personal care moves into clinical supports and becomes fully government funded.

Indicative Support at Home Price Ranges

The government released indicative prices based on a survey of over 300 HCP providers. These are not price caps or fixed rates. They show the range of prices providers expected to charge when the program launched.

Use these figures to benchmark what your provider charges against the national median and the typical range. Across the 2,619 aged care providers listed through Carevo, the services families most often ask about are personal care, domestic assistance and allied health, so those are good rates to check first.

Nursing Care Services

Service	Unit	National Median	Lower Range	Upper Range
Nursing care (general)	Hour	$150	$125	$179
Registered nurse	Hour	$160	$144	$186
Enrolled nurse	Hour	$140	$120	$163
Nursing assistant	Hour	$110	$92	$143

No co-contribution applies to nursing services under the clinical care category.

Allied Health and Therapeutic Services

Service	Unit	National Median	Lower Range	Upper Range
Allied health (overall)	Hour	$195	$160	$220
Allied health therapy assistant	Hour	$122	$105	$167
Counsellor or psychotherapist	Hour	$208	$160	$225
Dietitian or nutritionist	Hour	$200	$165	$219
Exercise physiologist	Hour	$190	$165	$219
Occupational therapist	Hour	$200	$174	$220
Physiotherapist	Hour	$185	$160	$210
Podiatrist	Hour	$180	$153	$208
Psychologist	Hour	$228	$210	$250
Social worker	Hour	$200	$163	$238
Speech pathologist	Hour	$208	$187	$236
Therapeutic services for independent living	Hour	$165	$140	$220
Remedial masseuse	Hour	$150	$134	$206

No co-contribution applies to allied health services under the clinical care category.

Support Services, Care Management, and Everyday Living

Service	Unit	National Median	Lower Range	Upper Range
Care management	Hour	$120	$80	$150
Restorative care management	Hour	$150	$120	$173
Personal care	Hour	$100	$85	$115
Social support and community engagement	Hour	$99	$82	$110
Respite	Hour	$99	$85	$112
Transport	Trip	$70	$40	$97
Domestic assistance	Hour	$95	$83	$109
Home maintenance and repairs	Hour	$103	$85	$120
Meal delivery	Meal	$15	$11	$22
Meal preparation	Hour	$97	$82	$110

Co-contributions apply to everyday living services in this category, based on your means assessment.

(Source: Department of Health and Aged Care, Summary of indicative Support at Home prices, published 13 October 2025)

Important Notes About These Prices

• These are national averages. Prices in your area (metro, regional, or rural) may differ
• Prices shown are for standard business hours. Evenings, weekends, and public holidays may cost more
• The list includes only services where sufficient survey data was collected
• Most prices are per hour. Transport is per trip. Meal delivery is per meal

Example: What a Typical Week of Care Might Cost

To give you a practical sense of pricing, here is what a typical week of care might look like for someone on a mid-level Support at Home classification:

Service	Hours/Units	Indicative Cost	Your Co-Contribution*
Personal care (3 sessions)	3 hours	$300	$0
Domestic assistance	2 hours	$190	$10-$38
Nursing visit	1 hour	$150	$0
Physiotherapy	1 hour	$185	$0
Transport (2 trips)	2 trips	$140	$10-$28
Meal delivery (5 meals)	5 meals	$75	$5-$15
Weekly total		$1,040	$25-$81

Co-contribution ranges depend on your means assessment. Full pensioners pay the lower end. Self-funded retirees pay the higher end. From 1 October 2026 personal care moves into clinical supports and is fully government funded, with no participant contribution.

The remaining cost is covered by your government-funded Support at Home budget.

How Support at Home Prices Compare to Old Home Care Packages

The shift from Home Care Packages to Support at Home brings several pricing improvements:

What changed

Feature	Old HCP	Support at Home
Fee transparency	Bundled fees, hard to compare	Itemised per-service pricing
Administration charges	Up to 20-25% of package	Reduced, with caps on overhead
Case management fees	Up to 15-20% of package	Included in care management rate
Price regulation	Limited oversight	Government-set price caps (planned, deferred from 1 July 2026)
Exit fees	Some providers charged fees	Banned completely
Unspent funds	Complex transfer process	Funds follow you to new provider

Under the old system, some providers consumed 35-45% of your package budget in administration and case management fees before any services were delivered. Support at Home is designed to ensure more of your funding reaches actual service delivery.

For practical tips on making the most of your budget, see our home care package spending guide.

Provider Price Transparency Requirements

Support at Home introduces strict transparency obligations for providers:

• Published price lists - Providers must make their full price list available to you before you sign a service agreement
• Itemised invoices - Every invoice must clearly show each service, the rate charged, and any co-contribution applied
• No hidden fees - Providers cannot charge fees that are not listed in your signed service agreement
• Price change notice - Providers must give you reasonable written notice before increasing prices
• Comparable format - Pricing must be presented in a standardised format so you can easily compare across providers

These requirements make it much easier to shop around and hold providers accountable. If a provider refuses to share their price list or provides vague pricing, consider that a red flag.

How to Compare Provider Prices

Comparing providers under Support at Home is more straightforward than under the old system. Here is a practical approach:

1. Request itemised price lists from at least two or three providers in your area (you can compare Support at Home providers near you to get started)
2. Check each price against the indicative ranges in the tables above
3. Ask about after-hours rates for evenings, weekends, and public holidays
4. Clarify what is included in each hourly rate (travel time, documentation, supplies)
5. Check minimum engagement times as some providers charge a minimum of one or two hours per visit
6. Ask about cancellation fees and the notice period required
7. Review the service agreement carefully before signing

A provider charging above the national median is not necessarily overcharging. They may include travel, offer more experienced staff, or provide services in a remote area where costs are genuinely higher. The key is that they can explain why.

What If Your Provider’s Prices Seem Too High?

If you feel a proposed price is unreasonable, you have options:

Talk to your provider first. Ask them to explain:

• What the service includes for that price
• Why their price sits above the indicative range
• Whether the new pricing means fewer service hours than your current arrangement

Compare with other providers. Use the indicative prices as a benchmark and get quotes from alternative providers in your area.

Lodge a complaint. If you believe a provider is overcharging or engaging in unfair pricing, you can contact:

• The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822
• My Aged Care on 1800 200 422

The government has consumer protections in place to ensure prices remain reasonable and transparent.

Switching Providers Under Support at Home

You have the right to change providers at any time if you are unhappy with pricing, service quality, or for any reason at all.

Key points about switching:

• No exit fees are permitted under Support at Home
• Unspent funds transfer to your new provider automatically
• No gap in services if you confirm a start date with your new provider before ending with your current one
• Contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 to update your referral

Do not feel pressured to stay with a provider whose prices do not represent good value. Competition between providers is a feature of the system, not a flaw.

Planning Your Support at Home Budget

To make the most of your quarterly budget under Support at Home:

• Prioritise clinical care since it has no co-contribution and stretches your budget further
• Review your service agreement quarterly to ensure the services and prices still match your needs
• Track your spending against your budget allocation so you do not run short before the next quarter
• Ask about group services as some allied health and social support can be delivered in group settings at lower cost
• Consider timing because scheduling services during standard business hours avoids after-hours surcharges

For a deeper look at aged care options in Australia, explore our dedicated resource pages.

Need Help Understanding Your Costs?

Navigating Support at Home pricing does not have to be overwhelming. Carevo is a connection platform that helps you find aged care providers who are transparent about their pricing and committed to delivering value.

Call us on 1800 953 253 to speak with someone who can help you:

• Understand your Support at Home classification and budget
• Compare provider prices in your area
• Review service agreements before you sign
• Find providers offering competitive rates for the services you need

You can also explore our complete guide to the Support at Home Program for everything you need to know about the transition.