What Is a Grandfathered Home Care Package?
If you were a Home Care Package recipient before 12 September 2024, you may be considered a Grandfathered Client under the Support at Home program.
Grandfathering protects people who were already receiving care before the reforms came into effect. Instead of moving to the new Support at Home contribution model, Grandfathered Clients continue under the rights and fee protections that applied under the HCP system.
Your Level 1 package is mapped into an equivalent Support at Home funding level so your support does not reduce during transition.
Your contribution arrangements also remain the same — including any 0% contribution status and the preserved HCP lifetime contributions cap of $82,018.15, rather than the new SAH cap.
All unspent HCP funds transfer into Support at Home in full, with no rollover limits or expiry.
These protections stay with you permanently, even if your needs increase or your level changes over time.
What It Means to be Grandfathered: Level 1
If you were receiving or approved for HCP Level 1 before 12 September 2024, you transition into Support at Home with the same level of assistance you were already receiving.
Your support does not reduce, your care plan remains aligned to your needs, and your financial settings continue exactly as they were.
Your funding, contribution arrangements and unspent funds are fully protected.
Support at Home simply provides a new structure for delivering the care you already receive, while keeping your routines and support workers as consistent as possible.
Your Grandfathered: Level 1 Budget Under Support at Home
Support at Home distributes funding quarterly rather than annually.
For Grandfathered Clients, this does not reduce the value of support — it simply changes when funding is paid.
Former HCP Level 1 annual amount: $10,588.65
Grandfathered Support at Home quarterly budget: $2,647.16
This quarterly figure represents your protected funding under Support at Home.
Your HCP Level 1 package is matched to the Support at Home level whose quarterly budget equals or exceeds your grandfathered entitlement, ensuring you remain fully supported.
Here is a comparison table showing how each Grandfathered Home Care Package level aligns with the Support at Home levels:
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Contribution Arrangements That Continue
Under Support at Home, the old Home Care Package fee structure — including the Income-Tested Care Fee and Basic Daily Fee — has been replaced for new entrants.
However, if you are a Grandfathered Client, your previous fee and contribution settings continue exactly as they were.
This means:
- If you previously paid 0% contributions, that continues.
- If you contributed under HCP rules, those same settings and caps apply under Support at Home.
- Your HCP lifetime contributions cap of $82,018.15 remains, rather than the new SAH cap.
Even if your care needs change in the future, your grandfathered contribution protections stay in place.
Reassessments may change the supports you receive, but they cannot increase your contribution rate beyond what you would have paid under the HCP system.
Grandfathering ensures your contribution arrangements remain stable and predictable, no matter how your care evolves.
Unspent Funds and How They Carry Over
All unspent HCP funds you held at transition move into Support at Home in full. There are no rollover limits, no quarterly caps and no expiry.
These funds remain available for eligible services, assistive technology, equipment or home modifications.
For many Grandfathered Clients, this carried-over balance provides flexible additional support throughout the year.
What Stays the Same for Grandfathered: Level 1
Support at Home does not change the nature of Level 1 care. If you were receiving Level 1 support under the Home Care Package program, you continue with the same light, practical help that supports your independence at home.
- Your day-to-day routines remain familiar,
- The workers you know can continue supporting you wherever possible.
- Your care plan simply shifts into the Support at Home service structure — without reducing the amount of support you receive or removing services that matter to you.
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