Personal care at home will be fully funded from 1 October. Here is what your family gets back

chris.moutzikis@moneyat60.com (Chris Moutzikis) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:51:47 GMT

Picture a couple. Call them Judith and Ray. Judith is 79 and had a hip replacement last year. Three mornings a week, a support worker comes to help her shower and dress. It is the kind of help that lets her stay in the home she loves. But every visit shows up on a statement. Each quarter, Judith and Ray sit at the kitchen table and add up what the help is costing them.

From 1 October 2026, that particular line on their statement goes to zero.

In short: from 1 October 2026, personal care services under the Support at Home program will be fully funded by the Australian Government. That covers help such as showering, dressing and continence care. Participants will pay no contribution for these services from that date. Contributions still apply to other service types, such as cleaning and gardening, so it pays to understand which is which.

Here is what is changing, who it applies to, and what it could mean for your household budget.

What exactly changes on 1 October 2026?

Support at Home is the government program that funds in-home aged care for older Australians. It replaced Home Care Packages when it launched.

Under Support at Home, services sit in three categories, and the category decides what you contribute:

Clinical supports, such as nursing and allied health. Fully government funded. You pay nothing.
Independence services, which have included personal care. You pay a contribution based on your means.
Everyday living services, such as cleaning, gardening and meal preparation. You pay a higher contribution, again based on your means.

From 1 October 2026, personal care moves from the independence category into clinical supports. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing puts it plainly. Personal care will be fully funded. If personal care is approved in your support plan, there is no out of pocket cost (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing).

The government’s reasoning is that personal care is essential to health, dignity and wellbeing, not an optional extra. Industry reporting puts the cost of the change at around $1 billion over four years (Hellocare).

One important detail: the change applies to services delivered on or after 1 October 2026. It does not apply to services delivered before that date, so contributions paid earlier in the year are not refunded.

What counts as personal care?

The Department’s announcement lists showering, dressing and non-clinical continence management as personal care (health.gov.au). Industry summaries describe the category as also covering help with toileting, eating, personal hygiene and taking daily medications (Aged Care Decisions).

If you are unsure whether a service in your support plan counts as personal care, ask your provider to show you how each service in your plan is categorised. It is a fair question, and the answer directly affects what you pay.

How much could your household save?

Many Australians we speak with had assumed help at home would always cost something. So the first question is usually a practical one: what does this actually save us?

That depends on two things: how much personal care you receive, and what contribution rate applied to you.

Contribution rates under Support at Home are set by your means. For independence services, the category personal care has sat in, full age pensioners contribute 5 per cent of the service price. Self-funded retirees without a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card contribute 50 per cent. Part pensioners and Seniors Health Card holders sit somewhere in between, based on an assessment by Services Australia (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing).

On price, the Department’s indicative pricing published in October 2025 put the national median for personal care at around $100 per hour, with most providers charging between $85 and $115 (Department indicative prices, reported by Carevo).

Here is an illustration. Take a participant receiving three hours of personal care a week at $100 per hour. That is $15,600 of personal care services a year.

A full pensioner contributing 5 per cent has been paying about $780 a year. From 1 October, that becomes $0.
A self-funded retiree contributing 50 per cent has been paying about $7,800 a year. From 1 October, that also becomes $0.
A part pensioner has been paying somewhere between those two figures, depending on their Services Australia assessment. From 1 October, $0.

These are illustrations, not quotes. Your own numbers depend on your plan, your provider’s prices and your assessed rate. But the direction is the same for everyone: whatever you were contributing for personal care stops for services delivered from 1 October.

What will you still pay contributions for?

This is the part worth sitting with, because the change does not make in-home care free of contributions.

Independence services that are not personal care keep their means tested contributions of 5 to 50 per cent. Everyday living services keep the higher range of 17.5 to 80 per cent. That covers the cleaning, gardening and meal preparation many households rely on most (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing).

For self-funded retirees in particular, everyday living contributions can remain a meaningful line in the budget. There is a lifetime cap on what you can be asked to contribute across your care journey. Services Australia keeps track of your total (Services Australia).

Two other boundaries to note:

The change is for Support at Home participants only. It does not apply to the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, the entry-level program many older Australians use for lighter help (Aged Care Decisions).
If you moved across from a Home Care Package, transitional arrangements may affect what you pay. My Aged Care can confirm how the rules apply to you (My Aged Care).

What does this mean for you at 70, 75 or 80?

If you are already receiving personal care through Support at Home, the saving arrives without paperwork. Contributions for personal care simply stop applying to services delivered from 1 October 2026. It is still worth checking your first statement after October to confirm your provider has applied the change correctly.

If you have been keeping personal care hours low because of the cost, October is a good time to revisit your support plan. Some families have trimmed morning visits to hold costs down. From October, the cost reason for doing that falls away for personal care.

If you are helping a parent plan ahead, the timing matters. A care plan assessed and in place before summer means the fully funded arrangement applies from the first visit. Assessments can take time to arrange, so starting the My Aged Care conversation early is sensible.

And if you are budgeting for retirement more broadly, this change shifts one number in a bigger picture. Care costs are among the hardest things to plan for. Nobody knows in advance how much help they will need, or for how long. It is worth understanding which costs the government now carries and which remain yours. It also helps to see how your income, savings and home fit together to cover the rest. Every situation is different, which is why a conversation, at your own pace, is usually a better starting point than a spreadsheet. It is the conversation our Retirement Funding Specialists at Money at 60 have with families every week, and one you are welcome to have with us in your own time.

The takeaway

From 1 October 2026, personal care under Support at Home becomes fully government funded. Help with showering, dressing and continence care will no longer attract a contribution, whatever your means. Cleaning, gardening and other everyday living services still will.

The sensible next steps are small ones. Check which services in your plan are categorised as personal care. Look at your first statement after October. If the change frees up room in your budget, take your time deciding what to do with it. And if it raises questions about how to fund the care and retirement you want, talk it through with people you trust, family included.

If a sounding board would help, you are welcome to bring your questions to a relaxed 15-minute call with a Retirement Funding Specialist at Money at 60. No commitment. Family members are welcome to join.

Sources

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2026) Personal care to be fully funded under Support at Home from October, health.gov.au
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Support at Home participant contributions, health.gov.au
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Support at Home personal care contribution change, health.gov.au
My Aged Care, Changes to contributions while accessing Support at Home
Services Australia, Annual and lifetime caps for your aged care costs
Aged Care Decisions (2026) Support at Home personal care fees: what changes from October 2026?
Hellocare (2026) How Support at Home’s personal care funding changes from October 2026
Carevo (2026) Support at Home prices 2026: indicative costs, reporting Department of Health indicative prices published October 2025

Your retirement may need to last 30 years. Four conversations worth having early.

chris.moutzikis@moneyat60.com (Chris Moutzikis) — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:59:42 GMT

Picture a couple. Call them Helen and Graham. When they retired at 65, their money plan ran to age 85, and that felt generous at the time. Last month, Helen's mother turned 93. She is still in her own home, still sharp, and still paying her own bills.

Helen and Graham's plan is not wrong. It is simply shorter than their lives are likely to be.

In short: Australia's official health report card shows we are living some of the longest lives in the world. A retirement that starts at 60 or 65 can now run 25 to 30 years. Four early conversations can bring your plan up to match your life.

The new numbers

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released Australia's health 2026 on 9 July, and the news is mostly good. Life expectancy at birth has reached 81.1 years for men and 85.1 years for women, among the highest in the world (AIHW 2026). The number of Australians aged 85 and over is projected to triple by 2065-66, from 603,000 to 1.9 million.

There is more good news inside the report. Cancer survival over five years has climbed from 50 per cent to 72 per cent in three decades. A longer life is an achievement to plan for, not a burden to fear.

It also changes the arithmetic. Those extra years are the best reason we know for four calm conversations at the kitchen table.

1. How long should your money plan run?

Many plans quietly assume the mid 80s. The data suggests planning well into your 90s now makes sense for many people. Ask yourselves: if the plan had to run five more years, what would we change today? Small adjustments made early are much easier than big ones made late.

2. Does health have its own line in the budget?

Three in five Australians live with at least one chronic condition (AIHW 2026). Out-of-pocket health costs now average 1,634 dollars a person each year, and they are rising about 1.4 per cent a year above inflation. The report also found more people delaying GP visits because of cost, up from 4.1 per cent to 7.7 per cent in a decade. A clear health line in your budget protects both your health and your savings.

3. Have you talked about care preferences while everyone is well?

Dementia is now Australia's leading cause of death, largely because more of us are reaching older ages (AIHW 2026). That is a reason for early, practical conversations, not for worry. Talking about care preferences, decision-making and paperwork while everyone is well keeps the choices in your hands.

4. Who is at the table?

Money conversations in later life work better when family is included. Adult children often want to help and simply do not know where to start. An open conversation now is a gift to them as much as to you.

The takeaway

Australians are living longer, healthier-managed lives than any generation before us. A plan that matches that horizon turns good news into calm confidence. Start with one conversation this month, and take it at your own pace.

Source: AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2026) Australia's health 2026, AIHW, Australian Government, released 9 July 2026. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2026/contents/key-findings

Money at 60 Blog

Personal care at home will be fully funded from 1 October. Here is what your family gets back

What exactly changes on 1 October 2026?

What counts as personal care?

How much could your household save?

What will you still pay contributions for?

What does this mean for you at 70, 75 or 80?

The takeaway

Sources

Your retirement may need to last 30 years. Four conversations worth having early.

The new numbers

1. How long should your money plan run?

2. Does health have its own line in the budget?

3. Have you talked about care preferences while everyone is well?

4. Who is at the table?

The takeaway