How many hours of care will my Support at Home budget provide?

How many hours of care will my Support at Home budget provide?

Your Support at Home classification gives you a dollar budget, not a guaranteed number of care hours.

The number of hours you receive depends on:

• your quarterly classification budget

• the provider’s hourly prices

• the types of services you use

• your participant contribution rates

• minimum visit times

• evening, weekend or public-holiday rates

• any carried over funding

• whether part of the budget is used for products or other non-hourly services.

First, deduct the care-management allocation

For ongoing Support at Home services, 10% of your quarterly classification budget is allocated to pooled care management.

This leaves approximately 90% for direct services.

For example, the current Classification 4 quarterly budget is $7,617.13.

The calculation is:

• quarterly classification budget: $7,617.13

• 10% allocated to care management: approximately $761.71

• government funding available for direct services: approximately $6,855.42.

Support at Home classification budgets include the 10% care-management allocation. Current amounts are indexed each year on 1 July.

Example: personal care at $115 an hour

Suppose:

• you have Classification 4

• $6,855.42 remains for direct services after care management

• your provider charges $115 an hour for personal care

• all of the direct-service budget is used for personal care.

If no participant contribution applies, the calculation is:

$6,855.42 ÷ $115 = approximately 59.6 hours per quarter

That is approximately:

• 19.9 hours per month

• 4.6 hours per week.

From 1 October 2026, approved personal care will have a 0% participant contribution. The entire $115 hourly price will therefore be paid from the available government-funded budget.

Example: full pensioner receiving cleaning

Participant contributions change how much of each service price is deducted from government funding.

Suppose:

• the direct-service budget is $6,855.42

• cleaning costs $110 an hour

• the participant is a full pensioner

• their everyday-living contribution rate is 17.5%.

For each hour of cleaning:

• participant pays 17.5% of $110: $19.25

• government funding pays the remaining 82.5%: $90.75.

The government budget could therefore fund:

$6,855.42 ÷ $90.75 = approximately 75.5 hours per quarter

The participant would pay approximately $19.25 for each hour received.

Across 75.5 hours, their total out-of-pocket contribution would be approximately $1,453 for the quarter.

The contribution does not disappear into the provider’s administration. It pays part of the agreed service price, while the government-funded budget pays the remainder. Full pensioners currently contribute 17.5% toward everyday living services such as cleaning.

Why can a service with a contribution provide more hours?

Where a participant contribution applies, only the government funded portion of the price is deducted from the classification budget.

For a $110 cleaning service with a 17.5% contribution:

• total service value: $110

• participant contribution: $19.25

• amount deducted from government funding: $90.75.

The participant’s contribution therefore increases the total value of services that can be purchased. It also means the participant has an out-of-pocket cost.

For clinical services with a 0% contribution, the full provider price is deducted from the government-funded budget.

What if I use several different services?

Most people use a combination of services rather than spending their entire budget on one type of support.

For example, the quarterly budget might need to cover:

• personal care

• cleaning

• physiotherapy

• transport

• social support

• respite.

Each service may have:

• a different provider price

• a different contribution category

• a different minimum visit time.

Your care partner should prepare an individualised budget showing the planned quantity and cost of every service.

Provider prices make a significant difference

Using the earlier $6,855.42 direct-service budget, with no participant contribution:

At $100 an hour, the budget provides approximately 68.6 hours per quarter.

At $115 an hour, it provides approximately 59.6 hours per quarter.

At $130 an hour, it provides approximately 52.7 hours per quarter.

A difference of $30 an hour reduces the available support by almost 16 hours over the quarter.

This is why comparing provider prices matters.

Minimum visit times also matter

Suppose a provider charges $115 an hour with a two-hour minimum.

Even where you only need 45 minutes of assistance, each visit may cost $230.

A provider charging $125 an hour with a one-hour minimum may provide better value for short visits, despite having a higher advertised hourly rate.

Ask providers:

• What is the minimum visit duration?

• Are visits billed by the minute, quarter-hour, half-hour or full hour?

• Are weekends more expensive?

• Is travel included in the unit price?

• What happens when a worker leaves early?

• Are cancelled services charged?

Do unspent funds provide additional hours?

Possibly.

For ongoing classifications, you can carry forward unspent funding into the following quarter up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, whichever is greater.

Transitioned Home Care Package recipients may also have historic unspent HCP funds. Those funds are separate and are not subject to the ordinary quarterly carryover limit.

How can I estimate my own hours?

Use this process:

1. Find your quarterly classification budget.

2. Deduct the 10% care-management allocation.

3. Add any available carried-over funding.

4. List each provider’s agreed service price.

5. Apply your contribution percentage to each service.

6. Calculate how much government funding each visit will use.

7. Allow for minimum visits and higher weekend rates.

8. Divide the available funding across the services you need.

9. Click here to use the calculator on Local Home Help.

For a service with no participant contribution:

Available direct-service funding ÷ hourly price = approximate hours

For a service with a participant contribution:

Available direct-service funding ÷ government-funded portion of the hourly price = approximate hours

Ask your provider for a clear budget

Your individualised budget should show:

• your total quarterly budget

• the amount allocated to care management

• carried-over funding

• each planned service

• the provider’s unit price

• the number and length of visits

• your contribution per service

• the amount deducted from government funding

• the expected balance at the end of the quarter.

Your provider must also provide monthly statements so you can monitor your spending.

What should I do next?

1. List the exact services and frequency needed.

2. Ask two or three providers to prepare the same sample quarterly budget.

3. Compare direct care hours, minimum visits and weekend prices rather than relying on a headline hourly rate.

4. Local Home Help has a calculator that will help in this situation: https://www.localhomehelp.com.au/calculator 

Helpful Local Home Help resources

• How much does Support at Home cost?

• Browse aged care cost articles

• Find home care providers

Check the official guidance

Check current official costs and pricing guidance. Aged care rules, funding amounts and program guidance can change, so check the current official information before making an important care or financial decision.