From 1 October 2026, all personal care services under the Support at Home service list will move from the Independence contributions category to the Clinical Supports contribution category.
This means that the Australian Government will fully fund personal care services and participants will no longer pay contributions for these services.
Older people will not be out-of-pocket for accessing personal care services if they:
- are approved to access personal care services in their support plan
- have available Support at Home funds.
Personal care services will continue to be funded from a participant’s available Support at Home budget.
Removing personal care contributions supports dignity, hygiene and access to essential daily care.
Note: Claims for services delivered before 1 October, will still attract a participant contribution, even if they are claimed for after 1 October.
What’s changing?
From 1 October all personal care services will move from the Independence category to the Clinical Supports category for contribution purposes. This is a mandatory change for all Support at Home providers delivering personal care services.
Participants will no longer pay contributions for personal care services delivered from 1 October, if they are approved for the personal care service type and have available Support at Home funding.
What’s not changing?
Participants will continue to pay applicable contributions for approved personal care services delivered before 1 October, in line with current arrangements.
The definition of personal care will remain the same. It still covers services which help with daily tasks, such as:
- showering
- non-clinical continence management
- dressing
- eating
- personal hygiene
- assistance with self-administration of medication.
There are no changes to service scope or activities. If you or one of your participants are unsure whether a particular service is included under personal care, check the Support at Home service list.
How you deliver personal care will remain the same. There are no changes to workforce roles, qualifications, delivery models or registration categories. Personal care services can still be delivered by personal care workers. The service type is moving to the clinical supports category for participant contributions only.
Eligibility and approval requirements will remain the same. Participants must still be assessed and approved for personal care services and have available funding.
Service IDs will remain the same. Only the participant contribution category is changing.
Your responsibilities and obligations will remain the same. You must continue to meet existing requirements for delivery of services, accurate claiming, billing and record keeping.
What can providers do to start preparing for the change?
The personal care contribution change will likely impact your ICT systems, processes and information products.
Your implementation effort will vary based on how contribution categories are managed in your organisation across service agreements, budgets, statements and invoicing.
You may also need to update care plans for participants that want to take up more personal care because of the change.
We have commenced engagement with providers and software vendors to verify ICT impacts and dependencies, and we are factoring this into readiness planning and support.