What’s changing with the new Aged Care Act and Support at Home

We asked Natalie Molloy Head of Operations and Clinical Governance to tell us more about the changes.

There has been almost constant reform in aged care in the past few years, and there’s more to come. These Government driven changes are designed to be positive, and most clients and representatives are not required to do anything differently, but it can help to understand what’s changing and why. We’ll do our best to help!

Most recently, the Government announced a $5.6 billion dollar reform to the aged care system last month, including a new Aged Care Act and the new Support at Home program.

New Aged Care Act

You might recall the Aged Care Royal Commission recommended that a new Aged Care Act be developed to better support older people and replace older laws. The Government has now presented the bill to Parliament and it is expected to come into operation on 1 July 2025.

The key focus of the proposed Act is to put the rights, needs and preferences of older people at the centre of our aged care system, enhancing both home care and residential care delivery.

New Support at Home Program

The new Support at Home program is part of the reform being introduced with the new Aged Care Act, and it aims to make accessing home care more simple and timely. This new program is expected to support 1.4 million older people to live independently in their own homes for longer.

From 1 July 2025, Support at Home will include the current Home Care Package and Restorative Care programs, and then in 2027 the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) will also become part of the Support at Home program.

The new Support at Home program offers:

• Eight long term support levels with funding from $11,000 to $78,000 per year
• Two short-term support pathways for restorative care (up to $12,000 per episode) and end-of-life care at home (up to $25,000).
   
  • The new restorative care pathway enhances the current Short-Term Restorative Care Programme by significantly increasing the number of places and extending support duration. Clients deemed likely to benefit can receive up to 12 weeks of intensive allied health support, up from 8 weeks.
  • End-of-life care at home - Clients with less than three months to live who wish to stay at home will receive priority access to the highest funding tier for additional home care services ($25,000 for 12 weeks). This pathway will complement specialised palliative care services, including symptom management and advanced care planning.
• Up to $15,000 for assistive technology and home safety modifications.
  
  
  • Clients will be able to access assistive technology and home modifications upfront through a dedicated funding scheme, eliminating the need to save package funds for these supports.
• Categories of support for clinical care, independence, and everyday living.
• Shorter wait times to access services.

The Government will fully fund clinical care services (nursing and allied health) regardless of income. Client contributions towards the categories of independence and everyday living will depend on each client’s personal circumstances.

The Government has also assured older people that no existing client will pay more for their services under the new Support at Home program.

How you will benefit

We’re looking forward to important new benefits for clients when Support at Home begins on 1 July 25. These include:

• Simplified access: one point of access for all aged home care services.
• Greater flexibility: services that are more flexible in meeting individual needs and preferences.
• Additional short-term services: new options to increase care at home when it is needed.
• Improved quality of care: even higher standards of care through stronger regulatory oversight and enhanced training requirements.
• Increased funding: more funding for frontline services to keep clients safe and well in their own homes.

The changes are a way off yet – starting 1 July 2025 but in the meantime we are committed to keeping you up to date.