A significant and genuinely positive change is coming for older Australians receiving care at home. From 1 October 2026, personal care services including showering, dressing, and continence support will become fully government-funded under the Support at Home program, meaning eligible participants will pay nothing out of pocket for them.
For families managing the cost of in-home care, it’s one of the more meaningful improvements in the current wave of aged care reform. Here’s what it means in practice.
What’s Changing
Under the Support at Home program, which replaced Home Care Packages from 1 November 2025, services are grouped into three categories: clinical care, independence, and everyday living. Personal care, things like help with showering, dressing, and continence, had been sitting in the independence category, which carries a co-contribution.
From 1 October 2026, personal care moves from the independence category into the clinical supports category. The significance of that shift is simple: clinical supports are fully government-funded, so the move removes any out-of-pocket cost for these services. If your support plan approves you for personal care and you have available Support at Home funding, you’ll be able to receive it at no cost.
Why It Matters
The government has framed this change as recognising personal care as an essential service that supports a person’s health, dignity, and wellbeing, rather than treating it as an optional extra. For many older Australians, help with showering or dressing isn’t a convenience, it’s fundamental to living safely and with dignity at home.
There’s also a practical health argument. Research has suggested that even modest out-of-pocket costs can discourage some older people, particularly those on lower incomes, from using the care they actually need. Removing the cost barrier for personal care is intended to ensure people don’t go without essential support to save money, which can lead to deterioration and, ultimately, more expensive hospital or residential care down the track.
What Still Has a Co-Contribution
It’s worth being clear about what isn’t changing. While personal care and clinical care will be fully funded, co-payments will still apply to some non-clinical, everyday living services, things like cleaning, gardening, transport, and meal preparation. The level of contribution depends on your assessed circumstances.
The Bigger Reform Picture
This change is one of several rolling out across 2026. From 1 July 2026, government price caps apply to all Support at Home services, and providers must publish their full price lists publicly, allowing families to compare provider pricing transparently for the first time. Together, these changes are designed to make in-home care more affordable and more transparent.
What Families Should Do
If you or a loved one receives or is applying for Support at Home, it’s worth understanding how these changes affect your specific plan. The starting point remains the same: contact My Aged Care to arrange an assessment, which determines eligibility and funding level. Families are encouraged to begin that process early, given that wait times for home care places can still stretch many months despite recent funding increases.
Epik Wire explains aged care reform in plain language for families and older Australians. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay across every change.
