Support at Home Program Available.
Support at Home Program Available.
Your Support at Home quarterly budget gives you funding to pay for approved aged care services over a three-month period. Rather than receiving one annual amount to use freely across the year, ongoing Support at Home funding is divided into four quarterly budgets. That makes it important to understand how much you have available, what you can spend it on and what happens if some money is still unused at the end of the quarter.
You can carry some unspent funding into the next quarter, but there is a limit. Understanding that limit can help you and your provider plan services around your assessed needs rather than letting available funding go unused unnecessarily.
Under Support at Home, people approved for ongoing services receive one of eight funding classifications based on their assessed care needs. Each classification comes with an annual funding amount, which is divided into four budgets covering three months each.
Your quarterly budget is held by Services Australia. Your provider then works with you to plan approved care and services within that amount. You don’t receive the government funding as cash in your bank account.
The budget can also include your own contributions where applicable. The amount you may need to contribute depends on factors including your financial circumstances and the type of service you receive.
If you’re still working out whether Support at Home applies to you or a family member, Elka’s information on Home Care Services and Aged Care Support can help explain the broader eligibility process.
Your ongoing funding level comes from your Support at Home classification, which is decided through an aged care assessment. The higher the assessed level of care you need, the higher the classification and available funding.
As of 1 July 2026, the eight ongoing classifications are:
Classification | Quarterly Budget | Annual Amount |
|---|---|---|
1 | $2,752.50 | $11,010.01 |
2 | $4,112.84 | $16,451.35 |
3 | $5,634.20 | $22,536.81 |
4 | $7,617.13 | $30,468.51 |
5 | $10,182.38 | $40,729.53 |
6 | $12,341.32 | $49,365.27 |
7 | $14,915.00 | $59,660.00 |
8 | $20,034.28 | $80,137.12 |
These amounts include the portion allocated to care management and are indexed each year on 1 July, so current figures should always be checked before making funding decisions.
If you enter Support at Home partway through a quarter, your first budget is calculated from the date you enter care through to the end of that quarter. Later quarters provide the full quarterly allocation.
Support at Home funding follows four quarterly funding periods each year. Services Australia releases ongoing budgets at the beginning of July, October, January and April.
In practical terms, the quarters are:
Your available funding refreshes at the beginning of each new quarter. Any eligible rollover from the previous quarter is added once Services Australia confirms the amount.
This is different from treating an annual budget as one large pool. You need to plan around the funding available during each three-month period.
Your funding can be used for Support at Home services that match the needs and services approved through your assessment and support plan. You can’t simply spend the budget on any household or health-related expense you choose.
The Support at Home service list is divided into three broad categories:
The services available to you depend on your assessed needs.
If you want to understand the types of practical in-home assistance Elka provides, you can explore its Home Care Services for the Aged. Elka currently lists services including personal care, domestic assistance, social support and respite care.
For ongoing Support at Home services, 10% of your quarterly budget goes towards care management. This amount is allocated to your provider to support care management activities.
Care management helps organise and oversee your care. It can include developing and reviewing your care plan, coordinating services and helping you understand and manage the support you receive.
This is why the total quarterly amount shown for your classification is not the same as the amount available purely for direct care services.
For example, if your classification provides a quarterly budget, 10% of that total forms the care management allocation. The remaining portion can then be planned around the approved services in your support plan.
The care management allocation is part of the Support at Home funding structure rather than an optional fee that you can redirect towards another service.
You don’t necessarily lose every unused dollar when the quarter finishes.
For ongoing Support at Home services, unused funding may carry over to the next quarter. The rollover limit is whichever is greater:
For example, if 10% of your quarterly budget is less than $1,000, you may carry over up to $1,000 of eligible unused funding.
If 10% of your quarterly budget is more than $1,000, the higher 10% figure becomes the rollover limit.
Services Australia calculates the final rollover either 61 days after the quarter ends or the day after your provider submits its final claim for that quarter, whichever happens first. The confirmed amount is then added to your next quarterly budget.
This support at home budget rollover gives you some flexibility for unexpected needs without allowing unused quarterly funding to accumulate indefinitely.
The rollover rule has a cap.
If your unused quarterly funding is greater than the amount you are allowed to carry forward, only the permitted rollover amount becomes part of your next quarterly budget. The standard carry-over rule is capped at the greater of $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget.
That means regularly using far less than your allocated funding deserves attention.
It doesn’t mean you should spend money simply to avoid having funds left over. Services should still relate to your approved needs and support plan.
Instead, talk with your provider about why the support at home budget is not being used. Your care plan may need adjusting, approved services may not be scheduled often enough, or your current service mix may no longer reflect what you need.
Good budget management should focus on getting appropriate support, not spending for the sake of spending.
Different rules apply to certain Home Care Package unspent funds carried into Support at Home.
If you were receiving a Home Care Package and had government unspent funds as at 31 October 2025, those funds carried across when Support at Home began on 1 November 2025. They are kept separately from your standard quarterly budget.
Those transitioned funds can be used for approved assistive technology and home modifications, or for approved Support at Home services after your regular quarterly budget has been used.
Importantly, the normal quarterly rollover limit does not apply to these retained HCP funds. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing states that there is no carry-over cap on transitioned unspent HCP funding.
This distinction matters. Your current-quarter unused Support at Home budget and older retained Home Care Package funds are not treated as the same pool of money.
If you’re unsure which funds appear in your account, ask your provider to explain your budget statement and any carried-over HCP balance.
A quarterly budget can look suitable on paper but still fail to match what is happening day to day.
Some signs that the current arrangement may need reviewing include:
If your needs have increased and your existing budget can no longer cover the required services, you can request a reassessment. A reassessment may result in approval for a higher Support at Home classification where appropriate.
Elka Home Care states that it provides personalised care plans based on individual needs, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. You can learn more about Elka Home Care and its approach to in-home support.
Making good use of your funding starts with understanding what you’ve been approved for.
Review your support plan and individualised budget with your provider. Make sure you know which services are approved, how often they are scheduled and how much each service is expected to use from the quarterly allocation.
Your provider should also give you regular information about your budget. My Aged Care advises that providers give participants a monthly statement to help them monitor available funding and spending.
A few practical habits can make budget planning easier:
You also can’t simply borrow against the next quarter if your current allocation runs out. Your Support at Home account cannot go into a negative balance, and Services Australia will not pay claims where sufficient funding is unavailable.
If you need additional services beyond the available government-funded budget, My Aged Care states that you may be able to enter a private agreement with your provider and pay for those additional services yourself.
Support at Home funding comes with several moving parts: quarterly allocations, approved services, care management, personal contributions and rollover rules.
Elka Home Care provides personalised in-home support and states that its team can guide clients through government-funded care arrangements and help them understand their available support.
The useful part of good budget management isn’t simply seeing a balance on a statement. It’s making sure your available funding is linked to care that reflects your assessed needs and helps you continue living at home.
If you have questions about your services, available funding or how your current care arrangement is working, contact us to speak with the Elka Home Care team.
The Support at Home quarterly budget is the amount available for your ongoing approved care and services during a three-month funding period. Your annual funding is divided into four quarterly budgets based on your Support at Home classification.
An aged care assessment determines your needs and ongoing classification. That classification sets your funding level. Services Australia holds the government funding on your behalf, while your provider works with you to plan approved services within the available budget.
There are eight ongoing Support at Home classifications. Each has its own quarterly and annual funding amount. Your classification is based on your assessed aged care needs. For ongoing services, 10% of the quarterly budget is allocated to care management.
Yes, some unspent ongoing Support at Home funding can roll over to the next quarter. The maximum rollover is whichever is greater: $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, including supplements.
You can carry over up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, whichever amount is higher. This rule applies to standard ongoing Support at Home quarterly funding. Different arrangements apply to retained unspent Home Care Package funds from before Support at Home began.
Eligible unused funding carries forward up to the rollover cap. If your unspent amount exceeds that limit, only the permitted amount is added to your next quarterly budget. If substantial funds regularly remain unused, discuss your service schedule and care plan with your provider.
Support at Home has eight ongoing funding classifications, numbered 1 to 8. Aged care assessors determine the classification based on assessed needs, with higher classifications providing larger quarterly budgets for people who require more support.
Your ongoing budget is released at the beginning of each quarter. Your Support at Home account cannot go into a negative balance, so you cannot simply spend future quarterly funding before it becomes available.
If you had government unspent Home Care Package funds on 31 October 2025, those funds carried over into Support at Home and are kept separately. They can be used for approved assistive technology and home modifications, or approved ongoing services once the regular quarterly budget has been exhausted. There is no standard quarterly carry-over limit on those transitioned HCP funds.
For people receiving ongoing Support at Home services, 10% of the quarterly budget is allocated to care management. This supports activities such as planning, reviewing and coordinating your care and helping manage the services you receive.