Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) reforms

Aged care reforms

We are making changes to improve aged care in Australia for all, now and in the future. These changes will deliver safety, dignity and respect for older people across aged care.

The reforms will change in-home aged care, including the CHSP from 1 July 2025, through: 

• a new Aged Care Act, which will start from 1 July 2025
• the Support at Home program, which will replace the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program and Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme on 1 July 2025, with the CHSP transitioning no earlier than 1 July 2027
• the Single Assessment System, which helps older people more easily access aged care and adapt services as their needs change.

Changes to the CHSP

The new Aged Care Act will:

• regulate CHSP providers the same way as other aged care programs
• standardise the CHSP service list which will mean new service type names and descriptions – we will align providers’ current contracted services to the new service list over the coming months.

We will implement changes gradually to help providers and clients prepare for the transition to Support at Home.

We held a provider webinar in October 2024. See answers to some frequently asked questions from the webinar.

We also held a survey with CHSP providers in November 2024 to seek feedback on proposed changes.

For more information about changes to CHSP, see:

• CHSP 2025-27 extension – provider update
• Proposed changes to CHSP service list from 1 July 2025 – Fact sheet
• CHSP 2025–27 service catalogue
• Proposed changes to CHSP Data Exchange from 1 July 2025 – Fact sheet.

Next steps

In the lead up to 1 July 2025, we will update providers about:

• the changes 
• any actions they need to take
• upcoming consultations and information sessions.

CHSP funding extension

The CHSP will be extended from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2027. 

All existing contracted CHSP providers will be eligible to receive a new CHSP grant agreement with:

• an Activity Work Plan 
• standard and supplementary terms and conditions outlining the services they are contracted to deliver from 1 July 2025.

Find more information in the CHSP 2025-27 extension – provider update

We will contact all CHSP providers in early 2025 with next steps, including the Grant Opportunity Guidelines for the 2025-27 extension.

 

Additional grants and rollover funding

The 2025–27 extension is not an opportunity to request additional funds.

Providers will not be allowed to roll over any unspent 2024–25 funds or any other funds related to their current grant agreement into 2025–27. 

To support the additional requirements for data collection and entry, there will be a grant opportunity in early 2025 for CHSP providers to apply for $10,000 in one-off funding to assist with the cost to update IT systems. Read the Forecast Opportunity on GrantConnect.

We are looking at additional funding opportunities for 2025–27. We will provide more information in the coming months.

CHSP manual 2025–27

The new CHSP manual 2025–27 will be available in the coming months and include further detail about the program changes.

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