By Tony Densley

From 1 October, something genuinely good happens in aged care.

Personal care delivered at home under the Support at Home program becomes fully funded by the government. That is help with showering, dressing and continence support. The kind of assistance that lets someone stay in their own home rather than move before they are ready.

It moves across from the category families contribute to, into the clinical category the government funds. And if you have already been assessed and approved for personal care, you do not need to be reassessed. It simply changes.

That is a real improvement, and I want to give it full credit before I add the caveats.

WHAT DOES NOT CHANGE

Fees still apply to the other categories:

• Cleaning and household help

• Transport

• Garden and home maintenance

• Other non-clinical everyday support

And the whole money side of aged care is untouched by this change. The family home. The pension. A spouse who stays living independently. The estate. Those still move together, and they still make the difference between a decision you are comfortable with in five years and one you are not.

AND THEN THERE IS THE QUEUE

Here is the part I would rather you heard from me than discovered later.

At the end of June, more than one hundred thousand older Australians were waiting for Support at Home. That number went up, not down, over the year. Reported median waits have been running at around eight months.

So the funding for personal care improves on 1 October. The waiting time to actually receive services does not.

I am not telling you that to be gloomy. I am telling you because it changes what the sensible next step is.

IF THERE IS ONE THING TO TAKE FROM THIS ARTICLE

Get assessed earlier than you think you need to.

An assessment is not a commitment. It does not oblige anyone to accept services, move anywhere, or spend anything. It establishes eligibility and it starts the clock.

Given the current waits, starting the clock is the single most useful thing a family can do, and it costs nothing but a phone call.

After more than 30 years, I have watched families wait until help was needed urgently, then discover that urgent and available are two very different things. That is a hard conversation, and it is almost entirely avoidable.

ONE MORE PIECE OF GOOD NEWS

In August the government confirmed that the Commonwealth Home Support Programme will continue rather than being folded into Support at Home in the near term, after a great deal of feedback from the sector.

For the hundreds of thousands of people receiving support through that program, that removes a real source of uncertainty.

The system is improving. It is also under strain. Both things are true at once, and planning around both is exactly the job.

As an accredited aged care professional, what I do is model the whole picture before anything is committed. What the changes mean for your position. What the fees actually look like for your situation. What it does to the pension, the home and the estate. So that a decision made in a stressful month does not quietly cost the family for years.

The reforms are a step forward. Walking into them with a plan is still what separates calm from chaos.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I already receive personal care. Do I need to reapply?
No. If you have been assessed and approved for personal care, the change applies automatically from 1 October. There is nothing to reapply for and no reassessment required.

Does this mean home care is free now?
No. Personal care becomes fully funded, but contributions still apply to cleaning, transport and other everyday support. It is a meaningful improvement to one part of the cost, not to all of it.

How long is the wait for Support at Home?
Waits have been long and have been getting longer, with reported medians running at around eight months. That is exactly why getting assessed early matters, even if you do not need services yet.

Does getting assessed commit me to anything?
No. An assessment establishes what you are eligible for. It does not oblige you to accept services, move, or spend anything. Given current waits, it is the most useful phone call a family can make.

What happened to the Commonwealth Home Support Programme?
It is continuing. The plan to merge it into Support at Home in the near term was deferred in August after sector feedback, which lifts a real source of uncertainty for the people who rely on it.

If someone in your family may need support at home in the next few years, the useful step is earlier than most people think. Let's map what the changes mean for your situation. Your first discovery meeting is free from obligation. Book your free discovery call: Book your free discovery call.

https://welcome.faceupliving.com/booking-call

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