Can I get 24/7 nursing care at home through a package?
In-Home Care & Support at Home
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In short...
Yes, you can get 24/7 nursing care at home. But you'll need to contribute out-of-pocket
The details...
Can I get 24/7 nursing care at home through a Support at Home package?
Support at Home can pay for approved nursing care at home, but an ordinary ongoing budget is unlikely to cover continuous nursing 24 hours a day.
Nursing is classified as a clinical support. When nursing is approved in your support plan and you have sufficient funding available:
you pay no participant contribution
the full agreed nursing price is paid from your available Support at Home funding.
However, your funding is still limited by your approved classification and budget. “Fully government funded” means there is no personal contribution on each approved nursing service—it does not provide unlimited nursing hours.
Why an ongoing budget will not usually cover 24/7 nursing
Continuous care requires 168 hours of staffing every week.
The highest current ongoing Support at Home classification provides approximately $80,137 per year, including the amount allocated for care management. A transitioned Level 4 Home Care Package provides approximately $65,416 per year.
By comparison, continuous nursing would cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars each year—and potentially well over $1 million—depending on:
weekday and overnight rates
weekend and public-holiday penalties
whether registered or enrolled nurses are required
active overnight versus sleepover arrangements
minimum shift lengths
the clinical complexity of the care.
A Support at Home budget may therefore fund scheduled nursing visits, but not usually a nurse remaining in the home around the clock.
What nursing can Support at Home fund?
Where assessed and approved, nursing support may include:
wound care
medication management
injections
continence assessment
catheter or stoma care
monitoring of chronic conditions
clinical assessment
education for the person and family
palliative or end-of-life nursing
coordination with doctors and other health professionals.
The frequency should be based on the person’s assessed clinical needs and available funding.
For example, Support at Home might fund:
a nurse visiting several times each week for wound care
regular medication or diabetes support
short clinical visits combined with personal-care services
more intensive nursing for a limited period after illness or hospital discharge.
What does 24/7 care actually mean?
Families sometimes use “24/7 nursing” when the person does not require a registered nurse every hour but does need someone present at all times.
A care arrangement may instead combine:
scheduled nursing visits for clinical tasks
personal-care workers for showering, dressing and toileting
support workers for meals, mobility and supervision
active overnight care
sleepover support
unpaid family care
private services
state-funded community nursing or palliative care.
This is often more realistic than using registered nurses for every hour of the day. However, workers must not perform clinical tasks outside their training, competency or professional scope.
What about overnight support?
There is an important difference between:
Active overnight care
The worker is expected to remain awake and provide regular or continuous assistance throughout the night.
Sleepover support
The worker can sleep but is available to respond when needed. This is not suitable where the person requires frequent monitoring or repeated assistance.
Clinical overnight nursing
A nurse remains present because ongoing clinical monitoring or intervention is required.
The provider should complete a risk and clinical-needs assessment before recommending any overnight arrangement.
Can the End-of-Life Pathway provide more support?
A person who is expected to have three months or less to live and wants to remain at home may qualify for the Support at Home End-of-Life Pathway.
It provides $25,000 over 12 weeks, with flexibility to use the funding over up to 16 weeks. Clinical services such as nursing attract no participant contribution. The pathway is designed to complement—not replace—state and territory palliative-care services.
Even this pathway does not automatically provide a nurse in the home 24 hours a day. A broader plan may still need to involve:
community palliative-care services
the person’s GP
hospital outreach teams
family and carers
privately funded support
respite or residential care where home care cannot be delivered safely.
Can I privately purchase additional care?
Yes. A person can enter into a private agreement for services beyond the amount covered by their Support at Home budget, but they must pay the full cost of those additional services.
Before arranging private 24-hour care, ask for a written weekly and annual cost estimate covering:
daytime, evening and overnight shifts
weekday and weekend rates
public-holiday rates
nursing versus support-worker hours
minimum shift lengths
replacement staffing
clinical supervision
cancellation terms
what happens if the person’s condition deteriorates.
When may home care no longer be enough?
A home-based arrangement may become unsafe or financially unrealistic where the person needs:
constant clinical observation
frequent overnight intervention
two workers for transfers
immediate access to emergency clinical care
complex equipment or procedures
a level of supervision that cannot be reliably staffed.
In that situation, the care partner, GP and clinical team should discuss whether additional health services, respite, palliative care or residential aged care would provide safer and more sustainable support.
The practical answer is:
Support at Home can fully fund approved nursing services within your available budget, but it will not ordinarily fund continuous 24/7 nursing. Most round-the-clock home arrangements require a combination of funded clinical visits, lower-cost support workers, family assistance, other health programs and substantial private funding.
What should I do next?
Confirm the details with My Aged Care or the relevant provider, write down your questions and ask for important information in writing before making a decision.
Helpful Local Home Help resources
Takeaways
- Ask for details in writing and compare more than one option where possible.
- Individual eligibility, availability and outcomes can vary.
- Ask questions early and seek independent help if anything feels unclear or unsafe.
About Local Home Help
How Providers Are Listed
How providers appear on Local Home Help Local Home Help helps families discover home support services available in their area. Providers may appear on the site in a few different ways. Some providers create and manage their own listing on the platform. Others may appear based on publicly available information about services operating in a particular region. This helps families see a broader view of support options available locally. Where possible, we encourage providers to claim and manage their listing so information such as services offered, contact details and service areas remain accurate and up to date. There are no paid or enhanced listings on Local Home Help, and there never will be. Claiming or managing a listing has no effect on a provider's visibility, ranking, or how often it appears in a consumer's personalised shortlist, it simply keeps the information families see accurate and current. Local Home Help does not charge consumers to access the platform. We may generate revenue in other ways in the future, but none of these will ever influence which providers a consumer sees, how they're ranked, or what appears in their shortlist. Provider visibility is, and will remain, based solely on relevance to each family's stated needs. What does not influence Liz There are no paid or enhanced listings on Local Home Help, not now, and not in the future. No provider can pay for a higher position in Liz results, a better ranking, or inclusion in a consumer's shortlist. This is a permanent commitment, not a current-state description. Claiming or updating a profile does not improve a provider's ranking. It gives Liz more accurate information about the provider's services, coverage and care model, which can make the explanation of why a provider matched clearer, but it has no effect on whether or how highly that provider appears. Local Home Help intends to generate revenue in other ways in the future - for example through tools built for providers, or products separate from the consumer matching experience. None of these will influence which providers appear in Liz's results, how they're ranked, or what a consumer sees in their personalised shortlist. Visibility and ranking are based solely on the fit factors described above, and nothing else. This reflects the platform's core ethos: Local Home Help is built consumer-first. Every design and revenue decision is made so that what a family sees from Liz is the most relevant outcome for them. Never the most profitable outcome for Local Home Help or a provider.
Independence Statement
Our independence Local Home Help is designed to help families navigate the often confusing world of home support and aged care services. The platform aims to present information in a clear and balanced way so families can better understand the types of help available and where to find it. While providers may appear on the platform, Local Home Help does not recommend one provider over another. The decision about which service may be suitable will always depend on individual circumstances. Families are encouraged to contact providers directly, ask questions and make their own enquiries before making a decision. Our focus is to make the process of understanding and finding support at home easier. Local Home Help does not accept payment of any kind in exchange for provider visibility, ranking, or shortlist placement, and never will. Any future revenue Local Home Help generates will come from sources entirely separate from how providers are matched to consumers.
Quality Signals
What to look for when choosing a provider Finding the right support service can take time. When considering a provider, families may wish to look for signs of quality such as: Clear information about services offered Transparent pricing or funding options Experience supporting older people at home Relevant professional qualifications where appropriate Positive feedback or reputation in the community Willingness to answer questions about care and services It is often helpful to speak with more than one provider before making a decision. Local Home Help aims to provide a starting point for exploring services, but the best choice will depend on the needs and preferences of the individual receiving support.
About the Author
Local Home Help Editorial Team
This article was created by Local Home Help to help Australian families better understand aged care and home support options in plain English.
Our content is based on publicly available information from:
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My Aged Care
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Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
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Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
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Provider pricing schedules and operational experience within the aged care sector.
Local Home Help is an independent consumer information platform and does not provide medical, legal or financial advice.
Important information
Aged care rules, fees, eligibility requirements and program arrangements can change. The information on this page is general guidance only and may not apply to every person or situation.
Before making a financial, legal or care decision, check the latest information with My Aged Care, Services Australia, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, or another appropriate official source.
Local Home Help does not provide legal, financial, medical or clinical advice.
Source data
Last reviewed
20/7/26, 9:08 pm