When the contribution is too high: cutting back, hardship help and respite at home

Some families find the Support at Home contributions harder to afford than they expected. The first instinct is often to cut back on services. That's your parent's choice, but there are other things to try first, and help is available if paying is genuinely hard.

Check the basics first

Before cutting anything, it's worth making sure your parent is paying the right amount.

• Is each service in the right group? Personal care, such as help with showering and dressing, carries no contribution from 1 October 2026. So does clinical care like nursing. If either shows a contribution, ask the provider why.
• Are the contribution rates right? They should match your parent's letter from Services Australia. If your parent was covered by the "no worse off" rule for former home care recipients, they may pay lower rates, or nothing.
• Is the price reasonable? Compare your parent's provider with others on My Aged Care's Find a provider tool. A lower-priced provider, or a different service that meets the same need, can bring the contribution down.

Our guide to what you pay by type of service explains the groups and rates.

If you do cut back

Your parent only pays contributions on services actually delivered, so using fewer services does lower what they pay. But there are trade-offs.

• Unused funding may be lost. Only part of an unspent quarterly budget carries over, up to the greater of $1,000 or 10% of the quarterly amount.
• Less help can affect safety and health, especially for things like meals, cleaning and getting to appointments.
• Getting more help later may need a new assessment if your parent's needs grow.

Financial hardship help

If your parent can't afford their contributions for reasons outside their control, they can apply to Services Australia for financial hardship assistance. If approved, the government pays some or all of the contributions for a set period, which can be renewed.

Who can apply

Your parent needs to:

• have had an income and assets assessment for Support at Home;
• have assets of no more than $48,270.30. Assets that can't be sold or borrowed against may be left out; and
• not have given away more than $10,000 in a financial year, or $30,000 over five years.

Services Australia then looks at your parent's essential expenses, such as food, housing costs, medical costs and transport, and how much income is left after paying them. If very little is left, below 15% of the single basic Age Pension a fortnight, they may get full help. Otherwise, they may get partial help.

How to apply

1. Fill in the financial hardship assistance form (SA462).
2. Include evidence of your parent's expenses over the past three months.
3. Lodge it with Services Australia.

Services Australia aims to decide within four weeks of getting a complete application. If it needs more information, the four weeks start again once it has that. While the application is being processed, your parent doesn't have to pay contributions. If it's approved, the help is backdated to the application date, or earlier if your parent asks and shows they were in hardship before then. If it isn't, the paused contributions become payable.

People who started a Home Care Package before 1 July 2014 can't use this scheme, but they can ask their provider for lower costs. Most people in that group pay no Support at Home contributions anyway.

Respite for carers

Contributions can also bite when a family carer needs a break. Respite comes in several forms, and the cost depends on the program.

• In-home respite. A care worker comes to the home so the carer can have a break. Under Support at Home, this counts as an independence service, which carries a contribution.
• Day or centre-based respite. Daytime activities at a centre, often with transport.
• Cottage respite. Overnight or weekend stays in a home-like setting. This is mainly offered through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme and some specialised programs, not through Support at Home itself.
• Residential respite. A short stay in an aged care home, which needs its own approval.

Advocates have reported that some families are finding certain kinds of respite harder to get since Support at Home started. If your parent's approved services don't include the respite your family needs, ask My Aged Care about a review.

Where to get help

• OPAN's free advocates can help you talk to the provider about costs, and help with the hardship form.
• Services Australia's Financial Information Service is free and can explain the hardship rules.
• The provider should help your parent make the most of their budget.

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