Guidance: Support at Home pricing

Ahead of the 1 July 2025 start of the Support at Home program, the Australian Government has made provider pricing guidance available. As they have done for the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program, providers will continue to set their own prices for services, with Australian Government price caps applying from 1 July 2026.

“We’re all in the thick of preparations for the new rights-based Aged Care Act 2024 to take effect on 1 July 2025, and with it our new Support at Home program,” Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said. “There has been a lot of hard work and consultation with older people, providers, and peak bodies over the past three years to make sure the design of the program meets the needs of Australia’s aging population as much as possible.”

The price for a Support at Home service will reflect the entire cost of delivering that service — ie, labour costs, package management, transport, etc — with the federal government having developed the pricing guidance in consultation with in-home aged care providers.

“One of the key focuses for discussion at the Aged Care Transition Taskforce has been pricing for Support at Home,” Wells said. “We have heard that providers need recognition that prices should reflect the full cost of providing that service and that costs of service delivery may differ across regions.”

Guidance available includes:

• a pricing guidance fact sheet — for providers to consider when setting and publishing their Support at Home prices; and 
• a summary of indicative prices — for providers to see how their prices compare with the rest of the market.
   

“The prices on the website are not intended to be seen as price caps, but rather as guidance that you should refer to when setting your own prices to ensure that you are not out of step with the sector,” Wells said. “Prices will vary across the country due to factors such as location and workforce availability.”

In preparation for Support at Home on 1 July 2025, the Australian Government advise that providers will need to: 

• discuss pricing changes with their HCP care recipients;
• ensure care recipients will need to sign a new service agreement; and
• prepare to publish prices on their website and My Aged Care profile.
   

The federal government also advised that it has put protections in place so that older people can be sure Support at Home prices are reasonable and transparent. “Your priority at this time must be making sure that your prices are reasonable and transparent for your clients when you transition to Support at Home,” Wells said. “Our expectation is that prices will be reasonable and correspond to your own costs for delivering those services.

“For example, package management and travel must now be included in the unit price, not as a separate charge as it is now. You may also choose to adjust your prices to consider transitional costs. You should very carefully consider circumstances where Home Care Package Program clients may receive fewer services under Support at Home as a result of your pricing decisions, as you will need to justify this change to them.”

More information about consumer protections for Support at Home prices can be found in the fact sheets for providers and participants, available via the Australian Government website. 

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