Personal care under Support at Home: what has changed?
By Ross McDonald · · 3 min readFrom 1 October 2026, you no longer pay a contribution for approved personal care services under Support at Home. To receive these services without an out-of-pocket cost, personal care must be included in your support plan and you must have enough Support at Home funding available.
What is personal care?
Personal care is help with everyday tasks that look after your body and personal needs.
Personal care can include:
- Help to shower and get dressed.
- Help with personal hygiene.
- Help with eating.
- Help to move safely, such as getting out of bed or getting to the toilet.
- Help with continence needs, such as changing continence aids.
- Help to take medication yourself.
The tasks covered by personal care have not changed. Personal care workers can still provide this support. You do not need a nurse simply because the contribution category has changed.
What is not personal care?
Some tasks may be funded under other Support at Home services, while others are everyday expenses you pay yourself. The table below shows examples of tasks and expenses that do not fall under the Government’s definition of personal care.
| Task or expense | Who provides this task |
|---|---|
| Cleaning, washing clothes and shopping assistance | Domestic assistance |
| Preparing or delivering meals | Meals |
| Companionship and support to attend social activities | Social support and community engagement |
| Transport to medical appointments | Transport services |
| Nursing treatment, such as wound care or administering medication | Nursing care |
| Professional hairdressing or waxing | Personal expenses, excluded from Support at Home funding |
| Buying groceries or medicines | Personal expenses, excluded from Support at Home funding |
These distinctions come from the Government’s Support at Home service list.
How is personal care paid for now?
Local Guardians claims payment for your personal care as usual. From 1 October 2026, it is listed under “Clinical Supports”, which means you do not pay a contribution for approved personal care.
The cost still comes from your Support at Home quarterly budget. The amount of personal care you can receive depends on how much funding you have available.
Will I still pay contributions for other services?
You may. A contribution, sometimes called a co-contribution, is the share of a service’s cost that you pay yourself.
Contributions can still apply to services such as cleaning, shopping assistance, meal preparation, transport, social support and respite. Your rate depends on the service and your financial circumstances. Services Australia determines the rate.
Some people protected by the earlier Home Care Package arrangements do not pay contributions. Financial hardship assistance may also help eligible people who have difficulty paying.
What if my worker does several tasks in one visit?
Help with showering is personal care, while washing clothes is domestic assistance.
Help with eating is personal care, while preparing the meal is a separate service. Domestic assistance and meal preparation may still require you to pay a contribution.
When a worker provides different services during one visit, their invoice should clearly show the time spent on each type of service. This helps your provider claim correctly through Services Australia and work out any contribution you need to pay.