Our home care services provide a range of care options tailored to individual care needs, including: 

Clinical Care – Nursing Care and Allied Health
Independence Care – Personal Care, Respite Care, Transport for Aged Care and Social Care and Support, 
Every Day Living Care and Support - Cleaning, Gardening and Meal Support.

At St Louis Home Care, your Care and Support Plan is personalised to meet your care needs. You work with your Care Partner to ensure you have a choice on how your home care plan and budget meet your assessed needs, background, and preferences. 

All Support at Home Program funding needs to be arranged through My Aged Care and assessment through the single assessment system for aged care.

Your Support at Home Package includes:

Government Subsidised funds and supplements if eligible. Your co-contribution (the fees you may be asked to pay) and include your Basic Daily fee, your income tested fee (if you have been assessed and able to contribute) and any other fees you agree to for your Home Care needs. 

Fees and charges are set by your Home Care Provider and included on your Home Care statement: 

• Services
• Equipment and Consumables
• Client Co-Contributions 

Yes, your home care services are flexible and can be adjusted to meet your care needs as they change, ensuring ongoing support and care to support you at live at home. 

If your care needs change, you may be guided by your Care Partner to contact My Aged Care to access additional funding through the Single Assessment System for Aged Care Services.

Our home care services offer respite care to support family caregivers, allowing for them to have a break. Respite care is a break for the caregiver. Respite care is also a positive experience for the person receiving care as they can take part in new activities, meet new friends, and have additional support and care. Respite care can be covered by your Support at Home funding if you are eligible; check this with your Care Partner.

No. If you’re an existing St Louis client, you will continue with all your current services and the same care team you know and trust. We handle all the adjustments behind the scenes so that your support carries on without interruption. You won’t have to change providers or staff, St Louis is fully approved to deliver Support at Home services, and our caregivers and nurses will remain by your side. Continuity of care is a top priority for us, so you’ll see the same friendly faces on the same schedule unless you request a change. Rest assured, nothing is being taken away, the goal of these reforms is to improve support, not reduce it.

In general, no, there’s nothing you need to actively do to move over. The transition from Home Care Packages will happen automatically on 1 Nov 2025. St Louis (and the government) will take care of enrolling you into the new program. You won’t need a new assessment or to apply again. The main thing you’ll do is later in 2025: sign a variation to your service agreement with St Louis aligning with the Support at Home terms. These will be mailed to you and we are happy to explain any updated terms. Aside from that, just continue to enjoy your services! We will also provide you with any updated pricing info and ask you to acknowledge it, but again, no surprises there. If you have not been a client before and are looking to start under Support at Home, the process is to apply via My Aged Care, see our Get Started page for guidance on that. But for transitioning clients, just keep doing what you’re doing, and we’ll guide you through any paperwork when the time comes.

Grandfathered clients (with a package or on the national priority waiting list before 12 Sep 2024) will pay roughly the same or even less out-of-pocket than under Home Care Packages. The government’s “no worse off” promise ensures that if you’re a grandfathered client, you won’t pay more than you do now, in fact, full pensioners who currently pay nothing will continue to pay nothing. 

Nursing and other clinical care will remain free for everyone. Some clients will start paying a small contribution for things like cleaning or gardening, but these are capped at affordable rates. For example, a full pensioner may pay only 5% of the cost of a personal care visit (which could be just a couple of dollars), and 0% for nursing. Part-pensioners may pay a bit more, but government caps ensure it stays reasonable. 

If you’re a grandfathered client not paying fees, you will not be asked to start paying fees, that’s guaranteed. If you are a grandfathered client and do currently contribute, you won’t pay more than your current amount. And remember, if finances are ever a concern, there are hardship provisions. Bottom line: affordability remains a cornerstone of the program. We’re happy to discuss your specific fee situation one-on-one.

Yes. One of the advantages of Support at Home is that it has more levels of funding (8 levels) to closely match your needs. If your needs change, St Louis will help arrange a re-assessment to move you to a higher classification so you can get more funding. The system is designed to be flexible, you won’t suddenly hit a ceiling. For instance, under the old Home Care Packages, Level 4 was the max and sometimes it wasn’t enough for someone; now there are more levels, providing much higher support (up to ~$78k/year). That means you won’t have to consider residential care just because you need more help at home; Support at Home can scale up to quite a high level of in-home support. We at St Louis are equipped to provide complex care at those higher levels too, so rest assured, as you age or if your health changes, the program can grow with you. Just keep in touch with us about any evolving needs, and we’ll take prompt action to get you reassessed for more support if needed.

Absolutely, yes. The Support at Home program still allows consumer choice of providers, just like Home Care Packages did. If you are with St Louis now, you can stay with us, we are fully approved and already gearing up for the new program. If you’re new or with another provider, you can also choose to sign up with St Louis (either when you first get your package or by transferring from your current provider). Clients can switch providers at any time if they wish, that doesn’t change. St Louis has been preparing for these reforms for over a year to ensure a seamless transition for our clients. We’ve updated our systems, trained staff, and even expanded services to cover all aspects of Support at Home. So, by choosing St Louis, you’re choosing a provider that’s ahead of the curve and ready to guide you. If you have friends or family with other providers who aren’t getting the info they need, let them know they’re welcome at St Louis, we can make switching easy and have them all set for the new program with no downtime.

In many ways! We believe in hands-on, personal support for our clients, especially during times of change:

• Keeping you informed: We stay up to date on all government details and announcements. Whenever there’s new info (like the exact fee rates or dates), we will communicate that to you via letters, emails, or phone calls. We’ve already provided written summaries (like our mail-outs and this website), and we’ll continue to do so.
• One-on-one care plan reviews: As mentioned earlier, our Care Coordinators will meet each client well before the change-over to review their plan. This personal meeting is to ensure you understand what’s happening and that we understand any concerns you have. We’ll adjust your plan if needed and make sure all paperwork (new agreements, etc.) is sorted out together.
• Information sessions: We plan to hold some community info sessions where we’ll present the key points of Support at Home and answer questions live. These will be free and open to clients and families. Keep an eye on our newsletter or ask your Coordinator about dates, likely in mid to late 2025 as we get closer.
• Advocacy: We know some clients or families like to get independent advice too, we can connect you with OPAN (Older Persons Advocacy Network) if you want an outside advocate’s help to understand your rights (they’re a government-funded free service). Their number is 1800 700 600. We mention this because we truly want you to feel comfortable and empowered, we’re confident in our info, but you don’t have to just take our word for it.
• Smooth operations: On the operational side, we’re ensuring a smooth backend transition, meaning things like billing systems, care plans, and reporting will update so that you experience a seamless shift. It’s our job to handle the complexity so you don’t have to.

We know that change can be unsettling, but our team will make it simple and smooth for you. Our motto during this period is “No client left confused or unsupported.” We’re doing everything in our power to uphold that. As a result, you can focus on living your life, and we’ll focus on the care. Remember, at St Louis, caring for older people isn’t just our job, it’s our family legacy. We’ve been through many changes in aged care before, always by our clients’ side. This is no different.

Yes. If you need support now, you don’t have to wait for 2025. You can still apply for a Home Care Package or Commonwealth Home Support services today. Those programs will continue to operate up until they transition into Support at Home. Any services you start receiving now will carry over. In fact, getting into the system now will secure you a spot so that on 1 Nov 2025, you seamlessly become a Support at Home participant. The current wait times for Home Care Packages can be a few months, so it’s wise to start the process early. How to proceed: Contact My Aged Care (1800 200 422) to request an assessment, or reach out to St Louis and we’ll assist you with the referral. If you’re eligible and approved for a Home Care Package before Nov 2025, you’ll either begin services under that or possibly be “assigned” a package around the time Support at Home begins. Don’t hesitate to get the help you need now. And if your needs are light, you may get CHSP services in the interim (like a bit of cleaning or meals), which will then also migrate into the new system by 2027; please note that St Louis is not a CHSP provider. The key message: you can start getting care as soon as you’re ready, you don’t have to defer until the new program starts. We’ll help you navigate the current system and then transition you over.

Aside from contacting us directly, you can find information on: The Department of Health’s Support at Home webpage, which gives an overview of the program.

1. The “Support at Home Program – Guide for Older People, Families and Carers”, a comprehensive booklet published by the Dept (we have it on our Resources page for download). It covers the program in detail in plain language.

2. Various fact sheets (also on our Resources page) on specific topics: e.g. contributions, classification levels, assistive technology scheme, etc. These are short PDFs from the Dept.

3. My Aged Care website and hotline, they can answer general questions and have some information under “Improving Australia’s aged care system” and news updates.

4. Letters the government has sent to Home Care Package recipients. They explain things like the grandfathering.