Home Care packages are changing. What is the Support at Home Program?

Summary
In its response to the Royal Commission, the Australian Government announced a commitment to establish a new Support at Home Program. The program will address several of the Royal Commission’s recommendations to improve the support for senior Australians to remain independent and in their own homes for longer.

Support at Home will start in July 2023 and replace the:

  1. Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP)
  2. Home Care Packages (HCP) Program
  3. Short Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme

Senior Australians would receive individualised service approvals, based on their assessed aged care needs and personal circumstances, rather than being placed in one of the four broad home care package levels.

They would have access to a new program for goods, equipment, assistive technologies, and home modifications needed to live safely and independently, rather than needing to ‘save up’ package funds for these purchases.

A new assessment tool is being developed to better match services to a person’s aged care support needs. The tool will assess eligibility for all aged care programs, including home care, residential care, transition care, multi-purpose services and respite.

Next steps
The department will undertake consultation including workshops, focus group sessions and discussions in 2022 to design the Support at Home Program.

For the full article and information: Department of Health