What replaced what

Support at Home is Australia’s new government funded aged care program. It replaces Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme under one system.

The goal is the same, helping older Australians and seniors access home care services so they can continue ageing in place. But the structure, funding, and assessment process have all been updated as part of aged care reforms.

What changed at a glance

	Home Care Packages (old)	Support at Home (new)
Structure	Four fixed levels (Level 1 to 4)	Flexible, needs based classifications
Funding	Set annual budget per level	Budget matched to individual aged care needs
Assessment	ACAT assessment through My Aged Care	Updated needs assessment through My Aged Care
Waiting	National queue, often months	Needs based allocation, designed to reduce wait times
Services	Set range of home care services	Broader range including allied health and home modifications
Contributions	Basic daily fee plus income tested fee	Updated contribution framework
Provider choice	Choose any approved aged care provider	Same, your parent chooses their home care provider
CHSP	Separate program for lower needs	Merged into Support at Home
Existing clients	Kept existing package until changeover	Transitioned automatically with no loss of funding

What stays the same             

Your parent still accesses the system through My Aged Care. They still get assessed. They still choose their own approved aged care provider. The types of home care support available, personal care, nursing care at home, domestic assistance, respite care, dementia support, and medication management, remain the same.

Your parent’s right to choose and change their home care provider has not changed. The core goal, supporting elderly people to live independently at home with quality aged care, remains unchanged.

What families need to do

• If your parent had a Home Care Package. Their aged care services have transitioned to Support at Home automatically. They keep their aged care provider, their care worker, and their home care visits. No action required.
• If your parent was on the CHSP. Their services have been absorbed into Support at Home. They may need a new assessment under the updated system.
• If your parent is starting fresh. Contact My Aged Care to register and request an assessment. Registration, assessment, approval, then choose a home care provider across Melbourne, regional Victoria, Tasmania, or anywhere in Australia.
• If your parent is not sure what changed. Call an approved aged care provider and ask. A good home care provider will explain the transition clearly.

Why your choice of provider matters more now

Under Support at Home, funding is more flexible but the quality of home care still depends entirely on the aged care provider delivering it.

A home care provider with a large aged care specific workforce can offer consistent carers, reliable home care visits, genuine carer matching, and continuity of care that makes in home care feel safe for elderly people and older Australians. A provider without workforce depth will struggle with the same problems under the new system as they did under the old one.

The program changed. The importance of choosing the right aged care provider did not.

Chris Barnard Health and Support at Home

Chris Barnard Health is an approved aged care provider and registered NDIS provider delivering Support at Home and home care services across Melbourne, regional Victoria, and Tasmania. Our aged care specific workforce of more than 1,000 aged care professionals is ready because workforce reliability is how we have operated since we started as a specialist nursing agency in 2010.

If you are not sure what Support at Home means for your parent, call 1300 602 469. It is what Melbourne’s leading and largest aged care specific workforce was built for. So your family understands the changes without the confusion.