Fair Work Commission wage rise update
Following the Fair Work Commission’s 15% increase to award wages for aged care workers, including in home care, the Government is increasing the Home Care Package basic subsidy and some supplements by 11.9% (including annual indexation).
This includes:
- dementia and cognition supplement
- veterans’ supplement
- viability supplement
- top-up supplement.
Supplements without a workforce component, such as the oxygen and enteral feeding supplements, are being indexed in line with annual indexation as normal.
Find out more about home care subsidies and supplement rates applicable from 1 July 2023.
Find out more about wage rises.
Who the subsidy is for
The Australian Government pays a subsidy to approved providers for each person receiving government-subsidised home care.
You can claim the subsidy for a person if we have assigned them a Home Care Package through the national priority system.
Calculating the subsidy
To work out the daily subsidy amount for a person receiving home care, we:
- start with the basic subsidy
- add any primary supplements
- subtract any reductions
- add any other supplement.
We base this on the claim form you submit. We add the daily subsidy amounts to get the monthly subsidy amount.
Basic subsidy
The basic subsidy rate depends on the package level – it increases for higher levels.
View the daily basic subsidy rates in the Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements.
Supplements
Primary and other supplements provide extra funding for specific care needs. For some supplements, we automatically check eligibility for you. For others, you need to apply.
View the daily supplement rates in the Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements.
Reductions
The reductions that apply to home care are the care subsidy reduction and the compensation payment reduction.
How to claim
You must submit a claim form every month to Services Australia. You can do this through aged care online claiming.
Include each person you’re claiming for and the supplements or reductions that apply.
Services Australia checks all claims to make sure they’re for people who have been assigned a Home Care Package.
Subsidy payments
Home care subsidy is paid in arrears. To receive this payment, you must lodge claims monthly with Services Australia.
To work out your claim amount:
- add up all the costs of delivering the care and services for each person in your care during the claim period
- subtract any basic daily and additional service fees that the care recipients pays – do not include income tested fees, as Services Australia automatically deducts these.
This is the invoice amount.
When claiming:
- enter invoice amounts for each care recipient in your care
- record relevant care events such as entry, leave and departure events for care recipients.
Read more about submitting your monthly Home Care Package Subsidy claims.
Who decides the subsidy rates
The Department of Health and Aged Care decides the basic subsidy and supplement rates on behalf of the Australian Government.
When the subsidy can vary
Subsidy rate changes
Subsidy and supplement rates are indexed every year on 1 July. View the current rates in the Schedule of Subsidies and Supplements.
Temporary leave
If a person takes leave from home care, their subsidy may decrease. It depends on how many days of leave they take.
To find out more, go to temporary leave from Home Care Packages.
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