Key Takeaways
- You can temporarily pause your Support at Home services at any time for a hospital stay, transition care, respite or a holiday.
- Under the new rules, providers can charge your budget for cancelled services if you give less than 48 hours’ notice, even for sudden hospital trips.
- Unlike the old system, your quarterly budget continues to accumulate while you are away.
- You can carry over unspent funds into the next quarter, up to a maximum of $1,000 or 10% of your budget.
- You will only lose your funding if you completely stop receiving services for four consecutive quarters (one full year).
Life is unpredictable. Whether you are scheduled for a knee replacement, recovering from a sudden fall or simply planning a long holiday with family, there will be times when you cannot receive your regular aged care services at home.
Under the old Home Care Package system, taking a break often meant your government subsidies were reduced. However, the new Support at Home program has introduced much simpler, more flexible rules for pausing your care.
Can I Pause My Support at Home Services?
Yes, you can temporarily stop your Support at Home services at any time. The government understands that your care needs will fluctuate, so they have built this flexibility into the system.
You can pause your services for almost any reason, including:
- A hospital stay for surgery or emergency treatment
- Entering an aged care facility for short-term residential respite care
- Receiving Transition Care to recover after a hospital admission
- Social reasons, like going on a holiday or staying with family
Pausing services is a standard process and providers manage these requests every day. However, if you are using short-term funding pathways like the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme, you cannot pause the timeline, so you must use those specific funds before they expire.
Taking A Break for Residential Respite
If you are entering an aged care home for a short-term respite stay, your in-home services can be put on hold until you return.
You can access up to 63 days of subsidised residential respite care per financial year without losing your Support at Home approval. Just like a planned holiday, you simply need to notify your Care Partner of your exact dates so they can pause your scheduled workers.
You can use My Aged Care or a free service like Aged Care Decisions to find available respite beds in your area.
The 48-Hour Cancellation Rule for Sudden Hospital Visits
If your hospital visit is a planned surgery, it is easy to give your provider plenty of notice. But what happens if you have a sudden fall and an ambulance takes you to the emergency room?
Under the Support at Home program rules, providers are allowed to charge your budget for the full cost of a scheduled service if you cancel with less than 48 hours (two business days) notice. This rule is designed to protect care workers from losing their wages when shifts are suddenly cancelled.
If you are rushed to the hospital, you or your family must notify your Care Partner immediately to stop the clock on future scheduled visits. Many providers will waive the 48-hour cancellation fee for medical emergencies, provided you can supply them with a hospital admission certificate later, but this depends on your specific service agreement.
Does My Funding Stop While I Am Away?
No, your funding does not stop. This is one of the biggest benefits of the new Support at Home program.
When you pause your services, you will continue to receive your full quarterly budget allocation even though you are not actively receiving visits from support workers. Because you are not paying for daily services while away, these funds will simply sit in your home care account.
However, there are strict limits on how much unspent money you can keep. At the end of the quarter, you can only carry over $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, whichever amount is higher. If you accumulate more than that while in hospital, the excess unspent funds will be returned to the government.
Can Any Services Continue While I Am Not Home?
Yes, certain services can continue running while you are away, provided you agree to it beforehand.
For example, you can ask your provider to keep sending the gardener to maintain your lawns so the house looks lived-in while you are on holiday. You might also request that someone collects your mail or does an exterior security check.
The mandatory 10% care management fee will also continue to be deducted from your budget. Your Care Partner will use this time to check in on your recovery, speak to hospital staff and organise a safe return-to-home plan so your services are ready the moment you walk through the door.
Will I Lose My Package if I Stay in Hospital Too Long?
You will only lose your Support at Home funding if you do not receive any services for four consecutive quarters (one full year).
As long as you resume your services within that 12-month window, your place in the program is completely secure. The government will send you reminders before this deadline approaches.
How Our Free Service Helps After a Hospital Stay
If you or your loved one experiences a significant health decline while in hospital, returning home with your old care plan might no longer be safe. This is the most common time families need to urgently switch to a more capable provider or organise short-term residential respite care.
Finding new care while trying to manage a hospital discharge is incredibly stressful, but Aged Care Decisions takes that workload off your plate.
- We provide a tailored Options Report matched to your new, post-hospital care needs.
- We only connect you with local providers who have current availability, so you are not left waiting for support when you get home.
- Our service is completely independent and there is no cost to you.
What To Do Next
If you have an upcoming hospital stay, a planned holiday or you are currently navigating a hospital discharge, here are the steps you should take:
- Notify your provider: Tell your Care Partner your exact dates of absence immediately to avoid being hit with 48-hour cancellation fees.
- Discuss ongoing maintenance: Decide if you want services like gardening to continue while the house is empty.
- Request a Support Plan Review: If your needs have increased after a hospital stay, ask your provider to help you apply for a higher Support at Home classification.
- Compare new providers: If your current provider cannot meet your new clinical needs upon discharge, request a free Options Report from us to find a better match.
Get your FREE Aged Care Provider Options Report today.
Here’s how Aged Care Decisions’ FREE aged care matching service works:
