Support at Home changes explained
What do the changes to in-home care mean for clients?
As you may know, Government reforms to aged care services will change how you receive funding and services for in-home care. Next year, from 1 July 2025, the new Support at Home program is expected to replace the Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care Programme.
It is expected to replace Commonwealth Home Support Programme from 2027.
We have summarised some of the key messages from the Department of Health and Aged Care to help you understand what you need to know as a client.
Classification of care needs
At present aged care clients are assessed under one of three different assessment programs:
- RAS – assesses eligibility for the Commonwealth Home Support Program (low-level support at home)
- ACAT – assesses eligibility and the level for a Home Care Package
- AN-ACC – assesses residential aged care funding
Prospective clients are pre-screened when they contact My Aged Care and referred for the assessment program deemed appropriate to them.
Change to the assessment process
This process will be replaced by a single-assessment system, conducted by a government contract partner. This new system consolidates the three different assessment programs with the aim of producing more accurate assessments of needs across both home and residential care.
The single-assessment system incorporates a new tool, which has more flexibility and draws in relevant information from screening and My Aged Care, so people don’t have to repeat their stories. It is designed to better target areas for deeper understanding on a needs-basis, saving clients from answering unnecessary questions.
The new tool was launched in July 2024, and the single-assessment system will launch in July 2025 to adopt the funding model for Support at Home.
Funding available
Under the new system clients won’t be assigned a package level but will have access to up to 11 different pay points in a quarterly budget.
From the single-assessment a client may be approved for one or both of the below:
- Short-term Support for independence
This would include Assistive Technology/Home modifications and short term and restorative services.
- Quarterly Budget for ongoing support at home
This will cover your Care Partner (or Care Consultant as you currently know it) and the services in your Support Plan such as nursing, personal care, allied health, domestic assistance, respite, social support, meals transport, home maintenance.
Unlike the current funding won’t accrue, so any unspent funds from the three-month budget will be lost. The more expensive items that you ordinarily have saved your funding over time for, like home modifications, will be covered under the Short Term Support for independence budget.
The services you receive are flexible within the quarterly budget and can be adjusted as your needs change. The benefit of this model is that because clients will only be spending what they need as they need it, and not accruing money, there will be more funding available for more people.
Changes to Home Care Providers
Clients will receive an individual support plan to give to their provider, which will contain:
- their classification
- a quarterly budget
- approval for short-term supports, assistive technology and home modifications, and/or ongoing services.
Governance and compliance
The New Statement of Rights has been written into the Aged Care Act with the seven strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. Non-residential care providers, like Your Side, are likely to be classified as Category 5 and will need to prove compliance with standards 1 -5 inclusive. (Standards 6 and 7 are only applicable to residential aged care providers.)
Your Side is committed to meeting and exceeding government quality standards and our track record shows this with our recent audit results. Your Side doesn’t settle for merely being compliant – we set our sights on excellence. We have our own high expectations of the quality of care and service we deliver and measures in place to ensure we meet them.
Summary
You can verify this information or look for more details on the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care site.
The Department of Health and Aged Care are hoping the Support at Home program will improve the aged care system with:
- a single program for in-home aged care, bringing together Commonwealth Home Support program, Home Care Packages and Short Term Restorative Care
- a focus on wellness and reablement in the delivery of in-home care,
- upfront supports to maintain independence, such as allied health, assistive technology and home modifications,
- new classifications levels to better meet a person’s aged care needs, and
- reasonable prices and client contributions set by government.
There are many things that haven’t been revealed yet about how it will work, but we will share news and updates when we can and are here to answer your questions along the way.
Please be assured, Your Side has been delivering aged care support and services for over 30 years and has adapted to this type of sector change and reform many times over this period. Our organisation has the expertise and agility to conform and sustain our service with the same high standard of quality you have come to expect from us.
No matter what change comes, we remain dedicated to help older people to understand and get the best care and support from the aged care system. At Your Side our vision is that every life can be a good one, and we help you live the life you want to live.
