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Becoming a Support at Home provider under the new Aged Care Act

In this guideWhat Support at Home is →The six registration categories →The registration pathway →Obligations from day one →Category picker →How you get paid →
From 1 November 2025 the Aged Care Act 2024 replaced Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care with Support at Home, and replaced ‘approved provider’ status with registration in categories. If you want to deliver government-funded care in people’s homes, you now register with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in the categories that match your services – and the category decides whether you face a full audit.
1 Nov 2025new Act and Support at Home commenced
6 categoriesof provider registration
8 classificationsof ongoing funding, quarterly budgets
up to 3 yearsregistration period

What Support at Home is – in one paragraph

Support at Home is a single in-home program funded by the Commonwealth. Older people are assessed through the Single Assessment System and assigned one of eight ongoing classifications (annual budgets from roughly $11,000 to about $78,000, released quarterly), or to a short-term pathway: the Restorative Care Pathway (up to 12 weeks of allied-health-led goal-oriented support), the End-of-Life Pathway (a higher budget over up to 12 weeks for people with three months or less to live), and the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme with low, medium and high tiers. Services fall into three groups – clinical supports (fully government funded), independence supports and everyday living supports (participant contributions apply, means-tested). Care management is funded at 10% of the ongoing budget. The Commonwealth Home Support Programme continues separately until at least 1 July 2027.

The six registration categories

Category Covers Audit against the Strengthened Quality Standards?
1 · Home and community services Domestic assistance, meals, transport, social support, home maintenance, gardening No – registration with conditions and Code of Conduct; not assessed against the Standards
2 · Assistive technology and home modifications AT supply, minor and major home modifications No
3 · Advisory and support services Care management and advisory services, restorative care coordination No (Code of Conduct, worker screening, incident reporting apply)
4 · Personal and care support in the home or community Personal care, respite, community participation, allied health assistance Yes – audited against Standards 1, 2, 3 (and 5 where clinical care is delivered)
5 · Nursing and transition care Nursing, transition care, clinical services Yes – including Standard 5 Clinical Care
6 · Residential care Residential aged care homes Yes – all seven Standards

Most new in-home providers land in Category 4, often with Category 1 attached so they can also deliver domestic assistance and transport. Category 4 is where the compliance load steps up: an audit against the Strengthened Standards, clinical governance where you touch clinical care, and the full Serious Incident Response Scheme.

The registration pathway

New provider – from entity to first client

Existing approved providers were deemed registered on 1 November 2025; this is the path for a new entrant.

Entity, ABN, insurance, key personnelWeek 1Company recommended; key personnel must meet suitability requirements and be notified to the Commission.
Worker screening1–4 weeksPolice checks (or NDIS Worker Screening where accepted) and, where children may be present, WWCC; aged care worker screening reforms continue.
Policies, procedures, registers aligned to the Standards and the CodeWeeks 1–2Statement of Rights, positive duty, incident management (SIRS), complaints, clinical governance framework, care planning.
Application to the Commission via the Government Provider Management SystemWeek 2–3Categories, service types, key personnel, suitability evidence, financial and prudential information.
Commission assessment (categories 1–3) or audit (categories 4–6)6–16 weeksDesktop and, for 4–6, an audit against the relevant Standards by the Commission’s assessors.
Registration decision and conditionsMonth 3–5Registration for up to three years; register on the My Aged Care provider portal; Services Australia payment setup.
First referrals via My Aged CareMonth 4–6Service agreement, care plan, quarterly budget, contributions explained in writing.
Timeframes reflect early experience under the new Act and will move as the Commission’s processes settle.

Obligations from day one

Category picker: which registration do you actually need?

Tap the services you plan to offer

Then read the category implications.

How you get paid

Under Support at Home the participant holds a quarterly budget; you deliver services against it and claim through Services Australia. Government funds clinical supports in full. For independence and everyday-living supports the participant pays a contribution set by their means: full pensioners pay 5% of independence supports and 17.5% of everyday-living supports; part-pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders pay on a sliding scale; self-funded retirees pay up to 50% and 80% respectively, with a lifetime cap on non-clinical contributions. People who held a Home Care Package (or were assessed or on the waiting list) on 12 September 2024 are covered by the ‘no worse off’ principle. Providers set their own prices at commencement, with government price caps scheduled from 1 July 2026 – build your pricing so a cap does not break your model.

Quarterly budget and contribution illustrator

Rough guide only. Pick a classification budget and a service mix to see how funding splits.

Quarterly budget–
Care management (10%)–
Government-funded (approx.)–
Participant contribution (approx.)–
Contribution rates shown for full pensioner (5% / 17.5%), an illustrative part-pensioner point (25% / 50%) and self-funded retiree (50% / 80%). Actual part-pensioner rates are on a sliding scale; ‘no worse off’ rules may apply. Confirm with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Want it built for you? The Aged Care Provider Setup is a fixed-price, ready-to-run version of everything in this article – registration application, Standards-aligned documents, SIRS and clinical governance, care-plan and budget templates. Book a 20-minute call – no pitch, honest answer.
Sources and further reading

  • Aged Care Act 2024 and Aged Care Rules 2025 – provider registration, Statement of Rights, positive duty
  • Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – Support at Home program manual, Support at Home participant contributions, Provider registration categories
  • Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission – Registering as a provider, Serious Incident Response Scheme, Code of Conduct for Aged Care
  • Services Australia – Support at Home claiming

General information only, not legal, financial or tax advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the regulator or a qualified professional.

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