Moved from a Home Care Package? Which rules apply to you

Support at Home replaced the Home Care Packages Program on 1 November 2025. If your parent had a package, or was approved for one, some older rules still protect them. This guide explains who is covered, what changes and what doesn't.

The key date: 12 September 2024

The protection is called the "no worse off" rule. It covers people who, on or before 12 September 2024:

• were receiving a Home Care Package;
• had been approved for one; or
• were waiting for one on the national priority list.

People approved after that date pay the standard Support at Home contributions.

What the rule protects

For people it covers:

• If they paid an income-tested fee under their package, their Support at Home contributions will be the same or lower than under the old rules.
• If they were receiving a package with no income-tested fee on 31 October 2025, they don't pay contributions under Support at Home. Full pensioners in the group don't either. Others who hadn't started a package by then pay the protected rates, which can be lower than the standard ones but aren't always nil.
• A lower lifetime limit of $88,934.57 applies to their contributions, in place of the standard limit.

Services Australia tells your parent and the provider which rates apply. If you're not sure, ask the provider to show which contribution rates they're using.

Their funding level

People who moved across keep a funding level that matches their old package level. People approved for a package on or before 31 October 2025 who were still waiting get the matching level when funding becomes available. Some older supplements, such as the dementia and cognition supplement, also continue for people who were getting them on 31 October 2025.

Unspent package money

If your parent had unspent government package money on 31 October 2025, it carried over into Support at Home.

• That money has no carry-over limit. It can be used for equipment and home changes, or for approved services once the quarterly budget runs out.
• There's no contribution on anything paid for entirely from that money.
• If the provider holds any of your parent's own contributions from the old package, they're used for contributions and refunded when your parent leaves.
• Services Australia and the provider manage it, and it moves with your parent if they change providers.
• You don't need to do anything to use it. You can ask the provider for a regular update on how much is left.

This is separate from the normal Support at Home budget. Unspent money from each quarter's budget only carries over up to a limit of the greater of $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly amount, and anything above that is lost.

If your parent later moves into an aged care home

The protection carries over to residential care. A person covered by the "no worse off" rule who moves into an aged care home after 1 November 2025 generally pays fees under the older 1 July 2014 arrangements, rather than the newer contributions. That means a means-tested care fee instead of the hotelling and non-clinical care contributions. People who have been receiving home care continuously since before 1 July 2014 may pay no means-tested care fee at all.

Some newer rules still apply to them, though. If they pay a lump sum for the room, retention is taken from it. If they pay by the day, the daily payment is indexed twice a year. Our guides to retention and why the daily payment goes up explain both.

The fee advice letter from Services Australia shows which rules apply.

Where to get help

• The provider can explain which contribution rates apply and how much unspent package money is left.
• Services Australia sets the rates and can confirm whether the "no worse off" rule covers your parent.
• OPAN's free advocates can help if something doesn't look right.

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