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 took effect. Instead of moving onto the new Support at Home contribution rules, Grandfathered Clients continue under the rights and fee protections that applied to them under the HCP system.
Your Level 3 package is mapped into an equivalent Support at Home funding level so your support does not reduce during transition.
Your contribution arrangements also stay the same — including any 0% contribution status and the preserved HCP lifetime contributions cap of $82,018.15, instead of the new SAH cap.
All unspent HCP funds transfer into Support at Home in full, with no rollover limits or expiry.
These protections continue permanently, even if your needs increase and you later move into a higher Support at Home classification.
What It Means to be Grandfathered: Level 3
If you were receiving or approved for HCP Level 3 before 12 September 2024, you transition into Support at Home with the same moderate level of care you were already receiving.
Level 3 typically includes consistent personal care, domestic help, mobility support, allied health services, and assistance with staying active and safe at home.
Your funding, contribution arrangements and unspent funds remain fully protected. Your routines and familiar support workers continue wherever possible.
Support at Home simply provides a new structure for care delivery without changing the supports you rely on.
Your Grandfathered Level 3 Budget Under Support at Home
Support at Home pays funding quarterly instead of annually.
For Grandfathered Clients, your total funding value remains fully protected.
Former HCP Level 3 annual amount: $40,529.60
Grandfathered Support at Home quarterly budget: $10,132.40
This quarterly figure reflects your protected Level 3 funding under Support at Home.
Your package is matched to the Support at Home level whose quarterly budget equals or exceeds your grandfathered entitlement.
Below 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 previous HCP 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 original HCP 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 annual caps apply under Support at Home.
- You retain the original HCP lifetime cap of $82,018.15, rather than the new SAH cap.
Even if your support needs change, your grandfathered contribution protections remain 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 contributions remain predictable and protected.
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 3
Support at Home does not change the purpose or intent of Level 3 care.
If you were receiving Level 3 support under the HCP system, you continue with the same moderate level of practical and personal assistance you depend on each day.
- Your routines remain familiar.
- Your support workers remain consistent wherever possible.
- Your care plan is simply aligned with the Support at Home service list — without reducing the support you receive or removing services that matter to you.
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