Commonwealth Home Support Programme 2025–27 extension and reforms update – Webinar

[Opening visual of slide with text saying ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health and Aged Care’, ‘Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) 2025-27 webinar’, ’13 March 2025’] 

[The visuals during this webinar are of each speaker presenting in turn via video, with reference to the content of a PowerPoint presentation being played on screen] 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Hello everyone and thank you all for attending today’s webinar. I’m Rachel Blackwood, Assistant Secretary of the Home Support Operations Branch from the Department of Health and Aged Care. 

I’ll begin today by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on which we are virtually meeting. I am based in Canberra on the lands of the Ngunnawal people. I acknowledge and pay respect to their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. I also extend that acknowledgment and respect to other families with a connection to this region and any other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who are here with us today. 

Today I’m joined by Rob Day, Assistant Secretary, Harmonisation and Regulation Strategy Branch, and two members of the Home Support Operations Branch team, Marty Dempsey, Director, CHSP Operations and Felicity Benedetti, Director of CHSP Service Reform. 

There will be some time for a Q&A session at the end of the webinar. You can submit questions in Slido on the right hand side of your screen and we will attempt to respond to as many questions as possible during the session today. Questions submitted during the registration process have also been considered for today’s Q&A session and where possible we have addressed them in our prepared presentations. All questions and answers including ones that we may not get to today will be published in a Q&A document on our website. There is no option for attendees to turn on their video or microphone. This session is being recorded and will be published on our website in the coming days along with the webinar slides. 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘CHSP 2025-27’, ‘Key updates’] 

Following our last webinar in October last year it’s been a busy five months. After its passage through the Parliament the Aged Care Act 2024 will commence on the 1st of July this year. The new rights-based Aged Care Act aims to improve the way services are delivered to older people in their homes and in community settings. Consultations on draft rules under the new Act are taking place over four stages and I’d encourage you to stay up to date with these consultations. 

With the CHSP coming under the new Act from 1 July this year there are some changes to the program including changes to Grant Agreements as part of the two year CHSP extension, mapping of CHSP services to align with the new Act and Support at Home, and new regulatory requirements for providers including universal provider registration and new provider obligations. There will be further opportunities for consultation and feedback on CHSP matters both in the lead up to 1 July and beyond. 

In December the Department released a fact sheet outlining key aspects of the process for extending the CHSP to cover the 2025-27 period. We are well underway with the extension process. The grant opportunity opened on the 22nd of January and existing CHSP providers have been invited to apply. In addition to service list remapping there will be changes to CHSP reporting in the data exchange. Existing providers will be deemed into registration categories under the new universal provider registration and there will be no change to the current client contribution arrangements. 

CHSP providers are currently required to ensure that services are only delivered to clients who have documented and recorded evidence of the need for those services. These requirements are outlined in the current CHSP Program Manual and we have communicated regularly with providers on this issue. However we are aware that despite previous Commonwealth outreach some clients have been receiving CHSP services without having undergone an aged care assessment. There may be a range of reasons for this including previous grandfathering arrangements, providers accepting clients off system or clients who initially access the program under emergency mechanisms and did not subsequently have an assessment. 

As noted earlier from 1 July this year CHSP will be regulated under the new Act. This means that clients receiving CHSP subsidised services need to be assessed as eligible for aged care services. It’s important to note that the vast majority of CHSP clients will be smoothly transitioned under the new Act because they have been previously assessed as eligible for the CHSP. 

Today we are issuing an urgent call to action for providers to support their unregistered and unassessed clients who receive and need regular CHSP services. The Government is providing additional support to the My Aged Care Call Centre and to assessment workforces to support more registrations and assessments before the 30th of June. We are asking CHSP providers for their assistance to support their unassessed clients to have an aged care assessment by the 30th of June this year. CHSP providers will receive a fact sheet containing information on next steps, frequently asked questions, support resources and a checklist along with a separate letter template. 

This documentation will be distributed to providers starting next week and will also be available on the Department’s website. This material is intended to help providers identify which clients would be most impacted and will continue to need regular services from the 1st of July this year. Providers will be asked to send letters to these clients and assist them in engaging with My Aged Care for registration and assessment. Additionally providers will be asked to help address any questions that clients may have. 

For unassessed clients who may require services on a less regular basis they can be registered and assessed whenever they next require their next services which may be before or after the 30th of June. To facilitate a smooth transition for impacted clients please support them to request an assessment through My Aged Care as soon as possible. 

The Department recognises that this will impact First Nations and vulnerable people including people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who may need some additional support to go through the My Aged Care registration and assessment process. For First Nations clients they may be able to have an Elder care support program worker or connector to assist them with their aged care journey. This can include support such as helping clients book aged care assessments and sitting with clients during their assessments. Providers are asked to support clients and can assist them to apply online, call My Aged Care or arrange face to face meetings with an aged care specialist officer. Clients or their representatives such as family members or carers can also visit the My Aged Care website or call My Aged Care. Contact details are available on the My Aged Care website and will be shown at the end of the presentation. 

Under the new Act there will be mechanisms for individuals to access funded aged care services where they have urgent needs. This is similar to current processes for the CHSP and a needs assessment will be required however access to services can be provided ahead of a full assessment being completed. We are committed to ensuring that all older people receive the support and care that they need under the CHSP. 

As I mentioned earlier the Government is providing support to the single assessment system workforce and the My Aged Care Call Centre for more registrations and assessments before the 30th of June 2025. We will work closely with these organisations to ensure that these referrals and wait times are managed as best as possible. And we will support providers to best determine which clients need to be urgently assessed before the 30th of June. 

Lastly with the extension process well underway and while there is ongoing consultation on the draft rules we are working to release a draft 25-27 CHSP Manual in the coming weeks. In this draft manual there will be detailed information about the program including the service list, provider obligations, DEX reporting, new worker screening requirements and changes to program interactions including with the new Support at Home Program. Following the release of this draft Manual CHSP providers will be sent an online survey to provide feedback to the Department. We want to hear from you and will take your feedback into consideration and release the final Manual by the 1st of July 2025. 

To summarise as we’re getting closer to the 1st of July we’re making more information available to you about the way that the CHSP will operate. We’re asking for your assistance to support unassessed CHSP clients to be assessed before 1 July. And a draft CHSP Manual will be available for consultation and feedback shortly. We also know that many of you are concerned about what may be happening to the CHSP beyond 2027. Whilst we are focused now on the changes to the program from the 1st of July 2025 I can assure you that thorough consultation will occur on any changes being contemplated over the longer term to inform any future decisions of Government. We will provide some further information on future consultations later in this presentation. 

I’d now like to hand over to Martin Dempsey, Director, CHSP Operations, to talk about the CHSP grant extension process. 

Martin Dempsey: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘CHSP Services’, ‘Preparing for 1 July 2025’] 

Thanks Rachel and welcome everyone. The CHSP 2025-27 extension grant opportunity opened on the 22nd of January and existing CHSP providers have been invited to apply and the ones that have not yet will be by the 27th of March. The grant opportunity closes on the 30th of April 2025. There’s been a strong response thus far and we are in the process of establishing the Grant Agreements to then be sent out. The formal Grant Agreement offers will start to be offered from April 2025 with it being finalised by the 30th of June 2025. This will allow CHSP providers to continue delivering services to clients in line with the new Aged Care Act and the new CHSP service list.  

We acknowledge there has been some concern in the sector about changes to the grant funding arrangements for CHSP providers and I’d like to address them now. As outlined in the December 2024 CHSP extension fact sheet from 1 July 2025 the current national unit price ranges will continue with standardised indexation applied annually for the two year period. This is in line with a staged approach to price caps on services under the Support at Home. This also allows time for the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority, IHACPA to consult with the sector. As part of the extension process the existing CHSP services have been mapped to the new service types from 1 July 2025 with the associated national unit price ranges being adopted. 

One of the mapping we have had feedback on is the mapping for the flexible respite and centrebased respite services into the new home and community general respite service from 1 July 2025. I just want to confirm that there’s been no reduction in overall funding with this mapping exercise and the unit price range for home or community general respite services incorporates the lowest unit price range for centre-based respite and the highest unit price range for the flexible respite. Whilst there’s been a slight adjustment for some providers under this there has been no reduction in the overall funding or any increase in any outputs. Providers from 1 July will still be able to report against each one of the sub-types through DEX allowing for service provision justification against the funding. We’ll make this clear in the resources that we’ll be sending out next week. 

Regarding client contributions in CHSP, until the CHSP transition to Support at Home there is no change to the current client contribution arrangements. The general principle for CHSP for the 25-27 period is that clients are still required to contribute to the cost of services where they can afford to do so to help providers cover the full cost of the service delivery. For more information see the National Guide for CHSP Client Contribution Framework as part of the current CHSP Manual. 

As part of the 25-27 extension there is no scope for provider initiated negotiations to move funding to new services. The purpose is to map existing services and service delivery locations into the new service list from 1 July 2025. A new addition to CHSP however is the inclusion of a 20% loading for providers who deliver 50% or more in MMM 5 the Modified Monash Model area which is usually small rural towns or large rural towns. Providers delivering 50% or more of a service type in defined MMM areas may request a loading of up to 40% depending on the remoteness of the area. Providers who meet the MMM 5 criteria can engage with their FAM relating to the loading being applied. This is currently being applied as part of the contract extension. 

The MMM 5 is in addition to existing price loading of up to 40% of the MMM 6 and 7 which is already as part of the CHSP program since July 2022. No new funding is attached to the remote loadings. Rather outputs are being adjusted. 

To recap on some of the important points the CHSP draft manual will be available in the coming weeks with an opportunity for sector feedback. There is no reduction to funding for the 25-27 and annual indexation is going to be applied. Provider supplementary terms and conditions will apply to the standardised Grant Agreement from 1 July 2025. The manual and contract aligns to the new Aged Care Act to allow for increase in compliance activities, child safety reporting and reporting of criminal offences and fraud. Changes to DEX is occurring which I will talk to in a second and price loading to include MMM 5 in recognition of the increased costs of service delivery will be started from 1 July 2025. 

In the 26-27 financial year indexation will be applied through a notice of change. And as we are implementing the Fair Work Commission’s decisions providers successful for the Fair Work Commission award wages stage 3 increases will have these funds included in their 25-27 CHSP Grant Agreement as well as the recent nursing indexation. 

CHSP nursing providers will have their nursing funds indexed via the notice of change from 1 March as well for this current financial year. 

Alongside the changes to CHSP service types there are some changes in DEX reporting to allow the Department to use data better to understand how clients interact in the aged care system. These DEX changes to reporting requirements will be in two stages to allow for technical IT builds to be completed in DEX. Some of these are detailed on the right hand side of the screen here. I acknowledge that this is a change to the original intent. The first stage will be reporting aligned to the new service list. It is essentially the same level of reporting providers currently do for their service types. Providers must report service delivery against the activity work plan in their CHSP 25-27 Funding Agreement. Providers must provide client level data identified by a My Aged Care ID and service delivery information referenced via activity ID as per their agreement for all activities except for the support and development in accordance with the data exchange protocols. 

Providers will continue to be required to submit their DEX as monthly data as they currently do. The first stage essentially is a mapping issue and the inclusion of My Aged Care ID reporting for the current DEX changes. Details and a fact sheet will be released relating to this in early April. The second stage of the DEX changes will include the reporting of service types at a more granular level. As you can see on the slide additional information will be collected as part of this DEX for some service types to gain more understanding in relation to service provision for example setting time, day, night, meals provided. 

Earlier this year the Department released a Support at Home and Aged Care Act transition grant which closed on the 25th of February. Successful providers are eligible to receive up to $10,000 to make the changes to some of the DEX systems. Over the coming months provides will also plan to make changes to business processes and policy ahead of July 2025. We’ll provide a DEX reporting toolkit by mid-April 2025 which will explain the changes in services, the reporting format in DEX portal and provide the format for bulk data uploads. A DEX staging environment will be made available from early April for providers to familiarise themselves with the changed environment and to test their preferred upload mechanism. 

In the meantime there are several actions that providers can take to get ready for 1 July 2025. Review the proposed reporting requirements, make sure staff are aware of the changes that are coming from 1 July 2025 including the introduction of the new Aged Care Act, support clients who need a My Aged Care ID to receive CHSP services under the new Aged Care Act requirements, plan to make the changes to the systems, business processes and policies in relation to CHSP, assure your existing clients that CHSP services are continuing, monitor communications from the Department to stay across the latest information as it becomes available. We’ll continue to work closely with the aged care service providers, peaks, older people as well as connected to the aged care system to ensure that the transition to the CHSP arrangements are done as smoothly as possible. 

Finally in regards to provider relinquishments it’s a requirement for providers to notify the Department with at least five months’ notice to the date of effect with a transition out plan being provided to their funding arrangement manager and to the Department. This is regardless of whether it’s a partial relinquishment or a full relinquishment. This is to ensure that clients continue to receive the same quality of services when a new provider transitions in. As part of the draft CHSP Manual that Rachel mentioned earlier which will be released shortly we have included a CHSP selections framework which provides clarity and detail about the Department’s selection process following a provider’s relinquishment notice. The main criteria in evaluating alternative incoming providers includes reviewing providers’ ability to effectively deliver the CHSP services being relinquished and the capacity to ensure continuity of care of the outgoing provider’s existing CHSP clients.  

It is also important to note incoming providers selected will need to be deemed in the services they are currently receiving or be deemed prior to commencing service delivery. As stated above this information will be included in the draft CHSP Manual. 

So key things. DEX reporting changes will be implemented in two stages. Mapping of services to occur from 1 July. Providers must collect My Aged Care ID. New reporting field will be more granular reporting required at a later date in 25-26. Further fact sheets will be provided next week as well as early April 2025 relating to the DEX specifications. The draft manual aligning to the Aged Care Act with provider ability to feed back will be released late March/early April. CHSP unit price ranges will remain the same with indexation applied annually. The Department should be notified of a provider’s intent to relinquish any services five months prior. 

That’s it from me at the moment Rachel. I’m going to hand over to my colleague Rob Day. 

Robert Day: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘CHSP and the new regulatory model’, ‘What the 1 July 2025 changes mean for CHSP providers’] 

Thanks Marty. Hi everyone. Good to be with you this afternoon. I’m going to be talking to you particularly about the new Aged Care Regulatory Model and particularly conscious that for a number of CHSP providers the new Reg Model and the new Aged Care Act when it commences on the 1st of July will be the first time that CHSP is regulated under the Act. 

The new Regulatory Model is something that we have developed in direct response to the Aged Care Royal Commission and the Royal Commission told us that we hadn’t had the settings right in the past in our regulatory system for aged care and that was one of the main drivers for substandard care that the Royal Commission identified. The Royal Commission also told us that we could do a better job of designing the regulatory model to support providers in and encourage continuous improvement and high quality care and excellence. And so we’ve tried to strike that balance in the new Reg Model between protecting older people from harm and having the incentives for continuous improvement and excellence in the system. 

You can see on the screen the four main principles that are informing the Regulatory Model. That it’s rights-based, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that we have a rights-based Aged Care Act, that it’s person-centred, which means that it’s focused on working in partnership with the older person, understanding what is important to them, particularly in a regulatory context when things go wrong understanding why that was wrong for them and how the situation can be restored from their perspective, and helping older people make choices. The Regulatory Model is also about being risk-based which means that it’s both about having a preventative focus but also that it’s proportionate to the level of risk in the way that it responds to situations in the sector. And as I said earlier our focus on continuous improvement, how we support through regulation and the approach to regulation, that focus in the sector to keep improving the way that care is delivered. 

Let’s flick onto the next slide please. And so as I said the new Act will be the first time that CHSP is regulated under the Act and that also responds directly to a finding of the Aged Care Royal Commission and that was the Royal Commission telling us that it would be much better if there was a single way of providers entering the aged care system and testing the suitability both at the start of their service delivery but also throughout the life of their service delivery the suitability of organisations to deliver care. And so the new Regulatory Model will bring in a single registration across all forms of aged care. And you can see on this slide the way all those existing aged care programs translate into programs under the new Regulatory Model. 

Let’s flick onto the next slide again thank you. And this will show us some of the key changes from the perspective of CHSP providers under the new Act and under the new Regulatory Model. The first is that single provider registration. And so where you’re part of an organisation that is delivering multiple types of aged care programs in future we’ll have a single registration across all of those programs. You’ll have a consolidated set of obligations, a consolidated set of reporting requirements. But it also means that we’ve grouped services in registration categories and that will let us adjust the obligations around the types of services that you’re offering. So if you are a CHSP provider offering just one service type or just a couple of service types your obligations will be targeted specifically to those service types and the risks that are inherent in that service delivery. 

So organisation that are operating across multiple programs will benefit in that way from streamlined provider obligations, streamlined reporting obligations and when it comes to things like registration, a single fee for that application process. 

For CHSP providers the role of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will also change. I know many of you are already used to engaging with the Quality and Safety Commission in terms of the quality of care that you are delivering. But from the 1st of July the Commission will have a role registering CHSP providers as registered providers under the Act. They’ll have a role assessing renewal every three years or thereabouts when those registrations come to an end and need to be renewed. And they’ll also have a different regulatory role in terms of monitoring and enforcing the obligations on CHSP providers under the Act.  

I know that that’s one of the questions that came through ahead of this webinar was what does that compliance approach look like? We’re not going to delve into a great deal of detail on that today because that’s the subject of a number of other webinars the Commission themselves will be running. But I think the regulatory diamond that you see in the Commission’s regulatory strategy is probably the best guide for you on what that approach will be. And really the highlight there is you can expect the Commission will respond quickly where there is risk of harm to an older person and you can expect that they will respond more intensely if you as an organisation seem to be disengaged, seem to be not interested in trying to fix the problem. But if you can demonstrate as an organisation that you are committed to complying with your obligations, if you can demonstrate that you are making a genuine effort to meet your obligations and to improve, then you can expect the Commission to take a lighter regulatory approach, one that is focused on information and support rather than more punitive measures. 

All right. Let’s keep moving on to the next slide. This is one those of you that have been watching for a while have probably seen before and it talks to the six registration categories and how we’re using that to set up a proportionate approach to regulation. And you can see that under this approach most of the services delivered under CHSP are delivered in categories 1, 2, 3 and 4 and that for a number of those categories the Aged Care Quality Standards won’t apply. There will still be obligations on providers. There are some obligations that apply to all providers. And you can also see on this slide the way that the Quality Standards gradually come into effect as you move further along those registration categories and become higher risk, more intense in terms of personal care. There’s a higher level of oversight and expectation in terms of the Quality Standards. So it’s an example of the way that the new Regulatory Model supports a proportionate approach to regulation. 

I mentioned that there are some obligations that will apply to aged care providers in all registration categories and if we flick onto the next slide we’ll see what some of those are. Most of these I think will be familiar to you as CHSP providers already. When I’ve had a look myself I can see most of them already there in the current CHSP Provider Manual. But I think one to call out is the Statement of Rights being a new part of the Aged Care Act and an obligation on all aged care providers to both understand that Statement of Rights and also to have systems in place to ensure that their care and services are delivered consistent with that Statement. The Code of Conduct which will be in a very similar form to the form that it is already in will also continue to apply to all aged care services as will obligations around complaints and whistleblower mechanisms and incident management systems including the Serious Incident Response Scheme. 

I know that one of the things that is of great interest to CHSP providers is understanding all of those obligations and getting the full picture. We are at the moment consulting on the rules for the Aged Care Act and that’s where those last bits of detail will come through. But we do have a number of products on their way that will help all of you understand what that complete picture is in terms of your obligations. For CHSP providers specifically we’re going to have a 101 booklet coming out in the next couple of weeks that explains what the new Regulatory Model is and how it applies specifically to those of you in CHSP. The new CHSP Manual for 25-26 year will be your bible that will include all of your obligations in one place. And we’re also building as are the Quality and Safety Commission a visualisation tool to let you see, and all the other providers in the aged care system see, what your obligations are based on the type of organisation you are and the registration categories that you operate in. 

If we can flick along to the next slide this is just a callout that there are some providers I know in CHSP particularly sector support and development providers that aren’t involved in direct service delivery. And the regulatory requirements for you will be slightly different and that will be instead a requirement to comply with a grantee Code of Conduct. And that also will be part of the rules. It was part of the 2C release of rules. And you’ve got the key requirements there for grantees that are not involved in direct service delivery. 

I’m getting very close to time so let me push through the last couple of things. For those of you that are currently operating CHSP services the process of translating from your current status to the status of registered provider under the new Act is something that will automate and it’s through a process called deeming. And effectively what that means is we will give you through operation of law the status of registered provider in registration categories based on the services included in your CHSP Grant Funding Agreement. If you’re part of a larger organisation offering other service types we will combine that CHSP entity with the other organisations that share the same ABN and give you a registration across all of those registration categories. We’re going through that deeming process in stages to make sure that we get the data as right as possible. We did do a process late last year to do a preliminary validation process and the next step will be in April this year, so in just a couple of weeks’ time, a provider registration preview.  

And if we flick onto the next slide you can see that we’ll be emailing out to every provider in the system a PDF document and that’s going to provide a summary for you of the information that we currently hold about your organisation and what that will look like when you are deemed to registered provider status under the new Act. There will be an opportunity for you to correct any information and most of the time that will be through your Funding Agreement Manager in CHSP but also a chance for you to get that early view of what your registration status will look like. 

There are some things that you can help do to prepare and most significantly it’s about making sure that the information that your Funding Agreement Manager has is as up to date as possible. If you’re part of a larger organisation that uses GPMS or the Government Provider Management System already you can also self-service through there to make changes to the information we hold. That information that we hold in your CHSP Grant Funding Agreement is going to be the information we use to deem you from your current status to the new status and so getting that right is really, really important. 

Finally just a quick note that after the 1st of July new providers coming into the system will need to apply for registration through the Quality and Safety Commission and the Commission will also have that role of seeing the period of registration and then going through a renewal process with all aged care providers. 

And finally here’s where you can get some more information about the new Regulatory Model. There is our website. There’s that provider booklet that I mentioned and also some great information on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s website. So thanks very much. I’ve gone a little bit over time. I apologise for that. And I believe I’m handing over to Felicity for the next bit. 

Felicity Benedetti: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘CHSP Service List’, ‘What the changes mean for providers?’] 

Great. Thanks Rob. Hi everyone. My name’s Felicity Benedetti. So I’m one of the Directors in the Home Support Operations Branch. And today I’ll be giving you a bit of an update following on from the last webinar we did back in October last year. So I’ll be talking to you about the CHSP service list and some of the client transition arrangements from 1 July this year. 

There are a few key updates that we’ll go over today. So last year we did conduct a survey which was completed by 902 CHSP service providers. So thank you to everyone who participated in that survey. It did really give us some valuable insights into the current landscape and the needs of our providers. 

So secondly the CHSP service list has been updated to align with the new Act and today I’ll be talking to you about these changes and how providers might be impacted. And lastly we are holding consultations starting from April this year with the key focus on specialised support services and sector support and development. And we’ll be engaging with meals and transport services in late 2025. 

So in November last year all CHSP providers were invited to participate in the CHSP extension survey and providers were asked to give us some feedback on a range of topics such as the proposed changes to the reporting in the Data Exchange or DEX, the unit pricing options, specialised support services and sector support and development. Overall the responses helped to inform the 25-27 Grant Agreements and it really did highlight some of the obstacles related to the DEX changes including the associated costs and administrative burden for providers. We are hoping to publish the results of this survey on our website shortly. 

From 1 July 2025 the CHSP service catalogue including some of the names of the services will be updated and the key message here is that most CHSP services that you provide won’t change however there are some slight changes to the naming conventions. So you’ll see here that we have the current and the new service catalogue terminology and from 1 July ’25 the service levels in the CHSP will be referred to as your service group. So this is the home support, sector support and development, assistive technology, home modifications and advisory services. And then underneath that you’ve got the service type and the service. So just as an example the service diet or nutrition sits underneath the service type allied health and therapy and that sits underneath the home support service group. 

We’ve also got therapeutic services for independent living which has been added to the CHSP service list and this is to ensure that it aligns with the new Act. 

Allied health is one of the services where there are some notable changes and from 1 July this year it’s going to be split into two. So we’ve got the allied health and therapy services and the therapeutic services for independent living. In August last year the Department did conduct another survey directly with allied health and therapy service providers and these responses helped to give us some insights into the services that are being delivered under allied health. 

Some of these changes that we’ll be making to allied health and therapy services include things that have been either removed or remapped to other services in the service list and this will impact hydrotherapy, restorative care services and both other and ongoing allied health. Also diversional therapy, this has now been moved to therapeutic services for independent living. 

For providers who identified themselves as delivering any of these services in the allied health survey last year you would have noticed that your services were remapped as part of the invitation to apply to the extension. If you do have any concerns please reach out to your Funding Arrangement Manager and they’ll be able to guide you on any actions you may need to take. 

So therapeutic services for independent living is a new service type that will be offered under CHSP from 1 July this year and this will include services that help older people manage their social, mental and physical wellbeing. And it’s designed to help support them to remain safe and independent at home. As you can see here on the table the services that sit underneath the therapeutic services for independent living include acupuncture, art therapy, chiropractic, diversional therapy, osteopathy and remedial massage. 

Similarly for specialised support services there are some important updates regarding the changes to these services. So as we mentioned at the last webinar specialised support services is not part of the new in-home aged care service list which is outlined in the rules of the new Act. However we do recognise that these services provide a really important linking or navigation support for older people. To limit any service disruption specialised support services is initially being extended for one year while the Department works with providers to realign services to other CHSP services or other Government funded programs. 

So as a result specialised support service providers who deliver continence advisory services, client advocacy and hearing advisory services are being asked to remap their services where possible during this extension. And they might remap their services to other service types on the service list such as allied health and therapy, social support and community engagement, nursing care or personal care. 

So as an example if a provider was delivering continence advisory services and client advocacy services these services could be remapped to nursing care or personal care and the client advocacy services could be remapped to social support and community engagement. We do recognise that the unit prices vary between these different services and where your services are remapped the new unit price will be consistent with the relevant unit price against the new service type that you’ve remapped the activities to. 

For specialised support service providers the 25-27 CHSP grant opportunity does actually allow you to align your funding with the new service list. And if you do require changes please respond to the invitation to apply and your FAM will be in contact with you. Your Funding Arrangement Manager sorry. The published fact sheet from October last year will help to guide you through that process and if there are any changes these will be reflected in your 2025-27 Grant Agreement. If a specialised support service provider is unable to remap their services within this timeframe these services will be funded for the 25-26 financial year with the option for a further one year extension under specific criteria. 

We also recognise that dementia advisory services and vision advisory services are unable to remap to other services and as such they will be funded for one year under a separate CHSP Grant Agreement. 

So those providers who do deliver dementia advisory services or vision advisory services you will be getting an invitation to register for some consultation with us starting from April and this is designed to help strengthen our understanding of the services being delivered and it will help to facilitate discussions on how these services may continue from 1 July 2026. 

As for the future of sector support and development beyond 1 July 2026 the Department will be conducting consultations in the coming months to inform advice to Government on the design of a proposed in-home aged care sector support system. So sector support and development providers will be consulted on the proposed design with the objective of supporting capacity building, better enabling the carer workforce and volunteers and having more structured funding for peak bodies and sponsorship arrangements.  

To allow time for these consultations and engagement with Government sector support and development has been extended and will be funded for another 12 months to 30 June 2026. During this time there will be minimal changes to reporting requirements and providers will still be required to use the community of practice and submit six monthly performance reports against their funded activities. The Department does monitor these funded activities and milestones as part of the provider’s Grant Agreements and if there’s any issues that have been identified the Department will undertake appropriate compliance activities if needed. 

So as I mentioned there are going to be opportunities for consultation and starting from April there will be opportunities for specialised support service providers and sector support and development providers. And to support the information you’ve heard today we are looking to publish fact sheets on topics including the CHSP extension process. And as mentioned earlier the draft manual will also be available on the Department’s website in the coming weeks. 

For specialised support services we are preparing to initiate those consultations starting from April and as I mentioned this is really focusing on the dementia and vision advisory services. If these providers do need advice on their 25-26 contract we are encouraging you to reach out to your Funding Arrangement Manager. 

For sector support and development a consultation schedule will be published in the coming months and in-home aged care providers including CHSP providers are encouraged to participate in the consultation process for the design of a potential new sector support program which is subject to decision by Government. And lastly for meals and transport consultations on these will occur later in 2025. 

So just a quick summary. Older people will continue to receive their equivalent services under the new defined service list. Secondly the recent feedback we’ve received from providers has been really helpful and we know that providers are experiencing consultation fatigue but please continue to engage with us. It’s really important. And lastly we are starting that consultation for specialised support services starting in April. 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘Client transition’, ‘What the changes mean for Commonwealth Home Support Program clients?’] 

So just one last key update from me. As Rachel mentioned at the start of this session we do need help from providers to ensure that Government subsidised services like CHSP are provided and delivered to clients who have documented and recorded evidence of the need for those services. And this is because from 1 July 2025 CHSP will be regulated under the new Aged Care Act. 

So from 1 July 2025 the vast majority of CHSP clients will be transitioned under the new Act because they’ve previously been assessed as eligible for CHSP. And the Department recognises that some providers are delivering subsidised CHSP services to unregistered and unassessed clients. However providers are required to ensure that services are only delivered to clients who have documented and recorded evidence of the need for those services and this has been a long term requirement and is outlined in the CHSP Program Manual. 

We are asking CHSP providers for their assistance to support their unassessed clients who receive and will still need regular services to get an assessment by 30 June 2025. Clients who receive services on a less regular basis can be registered and assessed when they require their next services which may be before or after the 30th of June this year. 

Under the new Act there will be mechanisms for individuals to access funded aged care services where they have urgent needs and this is similar to current processes for the CHSP and a needs assessment will be required. However access to services can be provided ahead of time. The Department will be distributing a fact sheet and templates to providers via the Funding Arrangement Managers next week. 

So that sums up my presentation for today so I’ll pass back to you Rachel to commence the Q&A session. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Thank you Felicity. We’ve got some time now for some questions. And of course as I commence the question thing my Slido went blank so I’m just waiting while that refreshes. I did see a number of questions in the chat just while my system comes up around the assessment requirement for CHSP clients. So there was a question around: 

Q: Will providers receive more funding to support clients to access My Aged Care? 

The answer to that one is no. There is no additional funding available for providers. As indicated in the presentation we are looking to provide as much information to support providers to assist clients to go through the assessment and registration process noting that it has been a longstanding requirement for clients to be assessed and registered for CHSP. 

There was also a couple of questions about the backlog for assessments currently and what the additional assessment support is. The Government is providing funding to fund additional assessments to address this issue and the Department will be working very closely with assessment organisations to monitor and address wait times to make sure that as many clients as possible can be addressed by the 30th of June. 

And there was a question around seeking confirmation that the existing arrangements to support CHSP clients to have emergency access to CHSP services without an assessment in certain circumstances. I can confirm that those arrangements will be retained from 1 July so there will still be provisions where there is genuinely urgent need for clients to access CHSP services. There’s a need to go through a process with the My Aged Care Call Centre to kick off an assessment process in order to action those and then the Contact Centre can make direct referrals in urgent circumstances. 

All right. My Slido is up now. So apologies for that. 

There’s a question. The most popular question is around when the finalised DEX reporting arrangements will be released. We did cover that in the presentation. So Marty indicated that by mid-April there will be information released on that but we will give a more fulsome update in our written responses to the Q&As. 

There’s a question about: 

Q: When will there be new additional grant funding available to providers to apply for? There’s demand for CHSP but no funding or places available. 

The Department is aware that there’s unmet demand for CHSP services and is monitoring this to develop advice to Government on future growth rounds for CHSP. 

All right. The next question in the list is: 

Q: Will new CHSP approved clients still receive a referral code through My Aged Care after 1 July? 

Who’d like to take that one? Maybe Martin? 

Martin Dempsey: 

Yes they will. So if they’re deemed as CHSP providers they’ll be receiving a new referral code from 1 July. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Excellent. Thank you. Another one for you I think Martin. 

Q: When you say that the grant opportunity opened is that the email we had to respond to with the three questions? We haven’t done anything on GrantConnect like last period. 

Martin Dempsey: 

Correct. So yes. So when I said the grant opportunity opened it was on the 22nd of January. Following that there’s been a rolling invitation to apply email that providers would have received from that date. There’s approximately 50 that still will be receiving that before the 27th of March this month. The invitation to apply has the three questions in it. That’s correct. And providers are responding back to that which then informs if there’s any negotiations that need to occur in terms of we’ve mapped it wrong in the agreement or we need to move the SSS services anywhere. And then what we’re doing is once those discussions have happened with Funding Arrangement Managers we are then – or MMM loading should I say. Once those discussions have happened we’re then sending it across to be established for a formal offer to be sent out to providers. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Thank you. And there’s a couple of questions in here about flexibility clauses that I might just bundle together. 

Q: So will the flexibility clause still be utilised and can you please explain more about CHSP flexibility for each region and service? 

Martin Dempsey: 

Sure. So there’s only minor changes that are occurring from 1 July. The flexibility provisions are a core component of the CHSP and it really came out of the COVID pandemic and our ability to allow providers to be able to move funding a little bit more where there’s a bit more demand. So at the core of it the only change for 1 July is to do with home modifications where there has to be seeking approval for any of the movement of funds to be able to go out of that particular service type. The other limitations that we’ve got in flexibility provisions in the current manual will remain. The flexibility provisions, if your agreement has got an aged care planning region in it and has got a service type in it, you are allowed to be able to move money around within that up to 50%, as long as it doesn’t affect any clients. There’s four sort of steps that are set up in the manual. So what I mean by that is you can’t stop service delivery if the client’s moving into another region. Really good example is if you’re funded for two aged care planning regions, one of them has domestic assistance and meals and the other one has only domestic assistance, you are actually allowed to be able to provide up to 50% of the other service type in the other aged care planning region as identified in your Funding Agreement. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Excellent. Thanks Marty. One for you Rob. 

Q: Does the Statement of Rights replace the Charter of Aged Care Rights? Is it a standalone document and where can we get it? 

Robert Day: 

Yes. Thanks Rachel. Look the answer is it does replace the existing Statement of Rights and it is central to – in fact it’s the first part of the new Aged Care Act once you get past the definitions and all the technical part. So I think from memory it’s section 23 of the new Aged Care Act. Our lovely support team have popped in against one of the couple of questions we had on that a link to the website where you can find both that list of rights but also some other supporting information if you’d like to know more. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Thanks Rob. And maybe a follow up there. 

Q: Do clients need to sign a document for the Statement of Rights like for the Charter of Rights? 

Robert Day: 

So I think no is the answer to that one. The focus has kind of changed. So having a rightsbased Act with that Statement of Rights front and centre is actually about trying to make rights the centre of what we do in Government in implementing the new Aged Care Act and in what providers do in the way you deliver services. And so rather than that being sort of a statement that people sign there’s an ongoing obligation for all aged care providers to both demonstrate they understand the Statement of Rights and demonstrate they’ve got a system in place to make sure those rights are reflected in the way that services are delivered.  

Rachel Blackwood: 

Thanks Rob. Maybe one for you again Marty. 

Q: Can clients top up using CHSP when they’re on a Home Care Package and are waiting for an upgrade? 

Martin Dempsey: 

So there’s going to be further information about that in the CHSP Manual. There is ability for clients to be able to access three different types. It’s respite services, there’s also social support group activities, and also assistance with care and housing. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Thanks Marty. All right. A few here that I think I can handle reasonably quickly. 

Q: We are reprinting our CHSP client brochure. Should we refer to Home Care Packages as home support or support at home because the language and terminology has been different in different products. 

So from 1 July the Home Care Package Program will be called the Support at Home Program. So that would be the correct terminology to use. 

A question around IT transition grants. 

Q: With DEX now being implemented in two stages will the end date for grant IT support funding to be utilised be extended past the 30th of June? 

I can take that one. So the transition grant did close on the 25th of February but it was framed to ensure that providers could spend the grant funding either this financial year or next financial year depending on how it would best assist them with the transition. 

A question around SSD. 

Q: Will the CHSP extension also include SSD or will this go out for its own grant opportunity?  

It is included in the same grant opportunity. As Felicity ran through SSD has been extended for 12 months rather than the two years that has applied to the bulk of the program. 

All right. We’ve got one minute just for one more question. I’m just trying to locate the best one. 

Martin Dempsey: 

I can do one while you’re doing one. The wellness and reablement report. There was a couple of questions about that. It remains a core function of CHSP going forward for the next two years. So there is going to be a requirement as there is now for a wellness and reablement report to be provided and services to be delivered using that approach. 

Rachel Blackwood: 

Thanks Marty. And I think given that it’s 2:58 we’d better wrap up there. We’ve made it through quite a few questions there so I hope everyone’s found that helpful. And as I said at the start we will be publishing written responses to every single question that we received as soon as possible in the coming days. 

So we encourage you to stay up to date with issues affecting aged care and subscribe to our aged care newsletters and mailing list. Please scan the QR code on the screen to keep in touch. When the webinar finishes a short survey will pop up in your browser. It takes around one minute to answer the four questions. We really do value your feedback and would appreciate it if you could take a moment to help us improve our webinars. 

So this concludes our presentation today. Please note that a recording of this webinar will be available in the following days. Thanks very much. 

[Closing visual of slide with text saying ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health and Aged Care’, ‘For more information, you can contact:’, ‘Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP)’, ‘CHSPServiceReform@health.gov.au or CHSPprogram@health.gov.au’, ‘www.health.gov.au/our-work/CHSP’, ‘Support at Home’, ‘SAH.implementation@health.gov.au’, ‘www.health.gov.au/our-work/support-at-home’, ‘New aged care regulatory model’, ‘AgedCareRegModel@health.gov.au’, ‘www.health.gov.au/our-work/aged-care-act/regulation’, ‘For additional client support’, ‘1800 700 600’, ‘www.opan.org.au’, ‘My Aged Care’, ’1800 200 422’, ‘www.myagedcare.gov.au’, ’13 March 2025’]