Private Home Care in Australia

Where can I find a full list of private home care providers?

No government register lists private-only providers, because purely private services do not have to register with a Commonwealth scheme. The closest things to a complete list are the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s register (for providers that also deliver funded care) and platform directories like the ranked list above, which narrows Carevo’s 4,157 listed aged care providers to those matched to private home care with measured response times. Most organisations that deliver funded care will also take private clients, so the practical list is far longer than any register.

What is private home care?

Private home care is support at home that you pay for yourself, without going through My Aged Care, the Single Assessment System or the NDIS. Because there is no government funding involved, there is no eligibility test, no means assessment and no government funding queue. You choose the services, the hours and the provider, and you must confirm a start date with the provider. The same supports available under funded care can be bought privately: personal care, home nursing, domestic assistance, companionship, overnight care and respite for family carers.

Private care for elderly parents at home

Most private home care is arranged by adult children for an elderly parent, often quickly: after a fall, a hospital discharge, or the week it becomes obvious that living alone is no longer working. Private care fits this moment because it can be arranged directly, subject to provider availability while the My Aged Care assessment and budget allocation run their slower course, and because you can buy exactly the hours the situation needs, from two hours of cleaning a week to daily personal care. Once a Support at Home budget arrives, funded hours replace some of the private spend and the same provider can usually continue under the new arrangement.

How to choose a private provider from the list above

The list above is ranked using the criteria explained in the methodology above it. Four checks matter specifically for private care.

Registration status. Since 1 November 2025, providers delivering Commonwealth-funded aged care must be registered with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, but a purely private service can operate without registration (Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, 2025). A provider that also holds registration for funded care has passed external oversight; if a provider is private-only, ask instead about worker screening, insurance and police checks.

Pricing transparency. Providers set their own private rates, so ask for the complete rate card in writing, including evening, weekend and cancellation rates. As a reference point, the NDIS caps a standard weekday daytime support-worker hour at $73.58 (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27), which tells you what the same hour costs under government price control.

Carevo measures whether a provider accepts an enquiry, not when care starts or a practitioner contacts you. Confirm current capacity and a start date directly. How Carevo measures enquiry acceptance.

Worker continuity. Private care works best with a small, consistent team. Ask how many different workers you should expect in a normal fortnight and what happens when your regular carer is away.

Why pay privately when government funding exists?

Three situations make private care worth the money. First, the gap between applying and receiving funded care: assessment and budget allocation take time, and private care may be arranged directly, subject to availability while you wait for a Support at Home budget. Second, topping up: government budgets are capped, and many families buy extra hours privately on top of a funded package. Third, choice: some people with the means to self-fund prefer to skip assessments, reviews and contribution calculations entirely. Under Support at Home, participant contributions apply to independence and everyday living services based on your means (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2025), so for part-pensioners and self-funded retirees the out-of-pocket difference between funded and private care can be smaller than expected.

Private carers vs private home care agencies

There are two ways to buy care privately, and the trade-off is price against protection. Engaging a private carer directly usually costs less per hour because there is no agency margin. You then carry the employer-style responsibilities: sighting police checks and NDIS worker screening yourself, confirming the carer holds their own public liability insurance, withholding correctly if they are not a genuine contractor, and finding cover when they are sick or on leave. An agency costs more per hour but supplies insured, supervised staff it has screened itself, and fills roster gaps. For a few hours of companionship a week, a well-checked private carer works for many families. For daily personal care, medication support or overnight care, the agency model’s backup and clinical oversight usually justifies the margin.

Can I combine private care with a Support at Home budget or NDIS plan?

Yes. Private hours sit alongside any funded arrangement, and using them does not affect your funding. Families commonly use a funded budget for the core supports it covers and buy additional hours, different services, or preferred time slots privately. If you are under 65 and have a permanent disability, check the NDIS first; if you are 65 or over and have not been assessed, register with My Aged Care so funded support can eventually replace some of the private spend.

What does private home care cost in Australia?

Each provider prices independently because no price caps apply to private services. Hourly rates move with the level of support (companionship costs less than clinical nursing care), the time of day, and how many hours you book each week. Longer regular bookings usually bring the hourly rate down. Get at least two written quotes for the same weekly schedule before you commit, and confirm whether travel is charged separately: the NDIS benchmark for provider travel is a separately agreed travel charge.

Availability

Carevo lists 4,157 aged care providers across 1,352 suburbs nationally, of which 494 have recently responded to new client inquiries, with records updated 2026-08-10. Most providers that deliver funded care also accept private clients. For the funding side of this decision, see private funding options; for self-directing a funded budget instead, see self-managed home care packages.

What private home care actually costs, and what drives it

Private rates are set by each provider, so the useful thing is knowing what moves them.

The subsidised rates are the benchmark. Under the NDIS a standard weekday daytime hour is capped at $73.58 and a sleepover at $311.79 a night (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Private quotes are negotiated freely and are not bound by those caps, but they are the number to quote back when a private rate looks high for the same task.

Minimum shift length is the biggest hidden cost. A one-hour visit billed at a two-hour minimum doubles the real hourly rate. Ask for the minimum before the rate.

Loadings apply privately too. Evenings, weekends and public holidays cost more, and a roster that looks affordable on weekdays can change substantially once Saturday cover is added.

Agency or independent changes the arithmetic. An agency rate covers insurance, supervision, payroll, screening and backup cover when your worker is sick. An independent worker quotes lower because you carry those. Neither is wrong; they are different products at different prices.

Ask what a cancellation costs. Short-notice cancellation terms vary widely in private arrangements and are where unexpected charges usually appear.

Get the whole thing in writing before the first shift: hourly rate, minimum booking, travel, loadings and cancellation terms. A provider unwilling to put those in writing is telling you something.

Private home care supply in Australia

Carevo lists 4,351 providers accepting private payment for personal care and 3,994 for domestic assistance, drawn from 34,600 providers across 8,918 suburbs.

Carevo measures whether a provider accepts an enquiry, not when care starts or a practitioner contacts you. Confirm current capacity and a start date directly. How Carevo measures enquiry acceptance.

How this page is compiled

The provider rankings and figures on this page come from Carevo platform records, including provider registrations, measured response times and coverage, together with the cited official sources. Carevo is an Australian platform that connects families with NDIS and aged care providers. Carevo does not deliver care itself.

Funding sources and checks

Check the current NDIA pricing arrangements and Support at Home program rules for the proposed service. Funding depends on the approved support and available budget; a Carevo listing is not approval. Confirm availability and a start date directly with the provider.