From 1 October, personal care under Support at Home costs nothing
From 1 October 2026, every personal care service under Support at Home moves from the independence category into clinical supports. In practice that means showering, dressing, help with eating, non-clinical continence management and help taking medication all become free of participant contributions.
Your parent does not have to apply, be reassessed, or do anything at all.
What the government actually says
From the Department of Health’s page on the change:
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.
What it covers
- Showering and bathing
- Dressing
- Help with eating
- Non-clinical continence management
- Personal hygiene
- Help taking her own medication
The definition of personal care is unchanged, and so is the way it is delivered. Same workers, same qualifications, same service. Only the contribution changes.
One catch worth knowing
Services delivered before 1 October still attract a contribution, even if the invoice turns up afterwards. So an October invoice covering September visits will still have a contribution on it. That is not an error.
What it does not change
Personal care is still funded from her Support at Home budget. Removing the contribution means she pays nothing out of pocket for it. It does not mean the service stops drawing down the quarterly amount she has been allocated.
Cleaning, gardening, shopping and transport sit in the everyday living category and still carry the highest contributions. Those have not moved.
So what else is already free?
This is the useful question, and most families never think to ask it. Personal care is joining a category that already exists, and physiotherapy has been in it since the program began. Nursing is too.
So if an elderly parent is on Support at Home, clinical care has always been free of contributions, whether or not anyone mentioned it. From October, personal care joins it.
What to do about it
- Check the October invoice. If a personal care contribution is still appearing for services delivered from 1 October, ask the provider about it.
- Ask what else is in the support plan. Clinical care has to be in the plan to be funded, and physiotherapy is not usually offered unprompted.
- Do not assume the budget grew. It did not. What changed is what she contributes toward it, not what it holds.