The letter arrives and it is oddly unsatisfying. It confirms you have been approved. It gives you a funding level. It does not tell you what that level buys, who to call, or what happens if you do nothing.
If you are reading this on behalf of a parent, you are probably holding the letter and doing the mental arithmetic on how much of this is going to land on you. This article is the plain version of what the letter means and what actually happens next.
What the letter is telling you
The letter confirms three things.
You are approved. The assessment has been completed and you have been found eligible for Support at Home, the program that replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025.
You have a funding level. Support at Home has eight ongoing funding levels rather than the four under the old program. Your level comes from what the assessment found about your needs.
You have a priority rating. High, medium or standard. This affects how quickly funding becomes available to you, not how much you receive.
What the letter does not do is assign you a provider. That choice is yours, and nothing starts until you make it.
If you are still working out what the assessment covered, our article on what is a Home Care Package ACAT assessment goes through it, and My Aged Care letters and what they mean covers the other letters you may receive.
What your funding level actually buys
This is the question behind the question. A level number is not useful. Hours are.
Under Support at Home, your funding is managed by Services Australia and released in quarterly budgets rather than as one annual pool. Maximum annual funding across the program is $80,137. If you do not spend everything in a quarter, you can carry over up to $1,000 or 10 per cent, whichever is greater, into the next one.
Ten per cent of each quarterly budget is set aside by Services Australia for care management, which covers coordinating and adjusting your services as needs change. That pool sits with Services Australia rather than with a provider.
What is left is what buys care hours, and how many hours that is depends on the hourly rates you end up paying. That is the number worth chasing, and it is the one the letter cannot tell you.
Our funding levels article sets out the levels, and the pricing page lets you put your own level in and see the result in dollars.
What you pay, and what you do not
Not every service costs you the same, because Support at Home splits them into three categories.
Clinical support, such as nursing and physiotherapy, is fully funded by the government.
Independence support, such as personal care and assistive technology, carries a moderate contribution.
Everyday living support, such as cleaning and gardening, carries a higher one.
Your actual contribution depends on your income, assets and pension status as well as the type of service. If you were approved for a Home Care Package before 12 September 2024 and were not contributing toward the cost of your care, you are protected from contributing under Support at Home. If you were paying fees, your contribution will be the same amount or less. That is the "no worse off" principle, and it applies to co-contributions.
If the contribution is not affordable, hardship assistance is available through Services Australia, and a provider can help you put the application together.
The equipment funding people miss
Separate from your ongoing funding, the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications scheme provides up to $15,000 upfront for eligible clients. That covers things like wheelchairs and walking frames, and changes to the home such as grab rails and ramps. Some modifications need a health professional to prescribe them first.
This sits outside your quarterly budget, so using it does not reduce your care hours. It is regularly the most useful thing in the first few months and it is the thing families most often do not know about.
We have written it up in full in our AT-HM scheme article.
What happens if you do nothing
Nothing happens. The approval does not expire the moment you put the letter down, but no services start and no funding flows until you choose a provider and set up an agreement.
That is worth knowing if you are in the common position of having a parent who says they are fine and does not want a fuss. There is no deadline forcing a decision this week. There is also no progress without one.
The three decisions ahead of you
Everything from here comes down to three choices.
First, self-managed or fully coordinated. With self-management you choose your own workers and service providers, negotiate your own rates, and your provider handles the admin, payments and compliance behind the scenes. With a fully coordinated service the provider arranges workers and services for you. Self-management generally puts more of the budget into care hours. A coordinated service takes more off your plate. Neither is wrong.
Second, which provider. Providers set their own fees on top of the government framework, which is why the same funding level buys different amounts of care depending on who you sign with. Ask any provider what they charge to manage the package, whether there are separate administration or exit fees, and how much of the quarterly budget reaches actual care hours.
Third, who does the talking. If you are the adult child in this, decide early whether you are coordinating on your parent's behalf or supporting them to do it. Providers can include a family member in calls and planning so you are not relaying everything second hand.
Our guide to comparing Support at Home providers sets out what to ask, and the self-managed page explains how that arrangement works day to day.
A sensible first week
You do not need to do all of this at once. A workable order looks like this.
Read the letter and write down the funding level and priority rating. Work out roughly what that level converts to in care hours at realistic rates, rather than reading the annual figure and assuming. Have one conversation about self-managed versus coordinated, ideally with the person receiving the care in the room. Then speak to one or two providers and ask them to put the numbers in dollars.
We have set out what happens after that on our getting started page.
If you would rather just ask someone
Most of this is easier said than read. If you have the letter in front of you and want someone to translate the funding level into what it actually pays for, call 1300 459 190. We will go through it with you, including what it would cost with us, in dollars.
