Support at Home classifications, often called Support at Home levels, run from 1 to 8, and they set the funding for your ongoing services. Your aged care assessment decides yours, and each step up comes with a bigger quarterly budget. A classification isn’t a fixed package of services. You and your provider choose from the services approved in your support plan, within your budget, so two people on the same classification can get quite different help. What you pay is separate again, and depends on the service and your income and assets.
Key Takeaways
- Classification 1 is the lowest funding level for ongoing services and Classification 8 is the highest.
- Your classification depends on the help you need, the help you already get and anything else adding to your needs.
- 10% of each quarterly budget goes to care management.
- If you don’t spend it all, you can carry over up to $1,000 or 10% of your quarterly budget, whichever is higher.
- If your needs grow, a support plan review is where you start moving to a higher classification.
Support at Home (SaH) is the Australian Government’s funded program for aged care at home. It started on 1 Nov 2025, replacing Home Care Packages (HCP) and Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC).
If you’ve just been approved for Support at Home, the classification number in your approval letter (sometimes called your level) is probably the first thing you looked for. It sets how much funding you have for your ongoing services each quarter.
What it doesn’t do is lock you into a set menu of services. Think of it as the size of your budget. Your approved services decide what can go in it, and you and your provider work out the mix.
How Do You Get Your Classification?
Your classification is worked out using information from your aged care assessment through the Single Assessment System. During the assessment, your assessor talks with you about your needs and records your answers in the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT).
A calculation then applies a set of rules to that information to work out your classification. So you don’t apply for a particular classification, and your assessor doesn’t simply choose one for you. You’ll find the result in your Notice of Decision, along with your priority category, approved services and support plan.
If the result doesn’t reflect the help you need day to day, you can ask in writing for the decision to be reviewed. You usually have 28 days from receiving your Notice of Decision to make that request.
What Makes One Classification Different From Another?
Three things decide your classification:
- The help you need: how much help you need with everyday things like shopping, cooking, showering, dressing and getting around
- The help you already get: whether you’re getting enough help already, from what you can do yourself, other services or family and friends
- Anything else adding to your needs: such as continence, loneliness, carer strain, frailty, anxiety or depression, and memory or thinking problems
Your assessment weighs these together. So two people who need the same help with everyday things can end up on different classifications, because one is missing more help or has more adding to their needs.
That’s why there’s no simple rule like “help with showering means Classification 3”. Here’s how the three things combine for each classification.
Classification 1
Classification 1 covers two situations:
- You need some help with everyday things, you’re getting most of the help you need and nothing else is adding to your needs
- You need only a little help, but you’re not getting all the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
If you need only a little help and aren’t getting all of it, but nothing else is adding to your needs, you’ll be pointed to the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) instead.
Classification 2
Classification 2 covers two situations:
- You need some help with everyday things, you’re not getting all the help you need and nothing else is adding to your needs
- You need some help, you’re getting most of the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
Classification 3
Classification 3 covers two situations:
- You need some help with everyday things, you’re not getting all the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
- You need more help with everyday things, you’re getting most of the help you need and nothing else is adding to your needs
Classification 4
Classification 4 covers two situations:
- You need more help with everyday things, you’re getting most of the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
- You need more help, you’re not getting all the help you need and nothing else is adding to your needs
Classification 5
Classification 5 covers two situations:
- You need more help with everyday things, you’re not getting all the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
- You need a lot of help with everyday things, you’re getting most of the help you need and nothing else is adding to your needs
Classification 6
Classification 6 covers two situations:
- You need a lot of help with everyday things, you’re getting most of the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
- You need a lot of help and you’re missing some of the help you need, but nothing else is adding to your needs
Classification 7
Classification 7 covers two situations:
- You need a lot of help with everyday things, you’re missing some of the help you need and other things are adding to your needs
- You need a lot of help and you’re missing much of the help you need, but nothing else is adding to your needs
Classification 8
Classification 8 is the highest level of ongoing funding. It’s for people who need a lot of help with everyday things, are missing much of the help they need and have other things adding to their needs.
If you’re approaching the end of life, the separate End-of-Life Pathway may also apply.
How Much Funding Comes With Each Classification?
Each step up comes with a bigger quarterly budget, from the smallest at Classification 1 to the largest at Classification 8. Budgets are indexed every year on 1 July and can rise at other times when the government changes funding. The latest increase took effect on 1 Oct 2026 to help fund higher award wages for aged care nurses. Before you plan services, check the current Support at Home classification budgets in the Schedule of Fees and Charges.
Before you plan anything, 10% of every quarterly budget goes to care management. That pays for organising and reviewing your care. Each month, your provider must deliver at least one direct care management activity, such as a call or meeting with you or your registered supporter.
Does Your Classification Decide Your Services?
Your classification sets how much you have to spend. Your support plan sets what you can spend it on. The services you’re approved for come from the needs recorded in your assessment, and you choose from that approved list with your provider.
Take two people on Classification 3, and their weeks could look very different. One might put most of their budget towards cleaning, shopping and transport. The other might spend more on nursing visits and physiotherapy after a hospital stay. That works as long as those services are approved and fit within their budget.
You can change the mix of approved services with your provider at any time, so your plan can keep up as your needs shift. If a service isn’t on your approved list, you may need a support plan review first. Check what Support at Home funding can be spent on before you agree to a service mix.
Your classification doesn’t set what you pay, either. Your contributions depend on the service, your income and assets, and the price your provider charges.
You don’t pay a contribution for nursing or approved allied health services. Since 1 Oct 2026, the same goes for approved personal care, such as help with showering and dressing, as long as you have available Support at Home funding. It still comes out of your budget.
What Happens If You Don’t Spend It All?
Your ongoing budget is allocated quarterly, but your provider must give you a statement every month showing what’s been spent and what’s left. Because the funding works in quarters, check the quarter’s balance as well as that month’s spending.
If you don’t use all of your quarterly budget, you can carry over up to $1,000 or 10% of it, whichever is higher, into the next quarter. You lose any unspent funding above that.
If money regularly goes unspent, ask your provider to review your services and budget with you.
What If Your Needs Change?
Needs don’t stand still. A fall, a hospital stay or a change in who lives with you can all mean your current classification no longer covers what you need.
When that happens, the first step is a support plan review. Your provider can refer you for one, or you can contact My Aged Care yourself and explain what’s changed. You may then be reassessed for a higher classification.
Being approved for a higher classification doesn’t always mean more funding straight away. New budgets are allocated through the Support at Home Priority System, and some people get interim funding of 60% of their classification while they wait for the rest.
What If You Had a Home Care Package?
If you had a Home Care Package before Support at Home started on 1 Nov 2025, you were moved to one of four transitioned HCP levels, with funding equivalent to your old package. Moving from a transitioned level to a higher Support at Home classification starts with a reassessment.
The transitioned levels have their own budgets and rules, including for package funds you’d built up before the change. Quarterly budgets and a cap on carryover are two of the bigger differences from Home Care Packages.
What Isn’t Covered by Your Classification?
Some support is funded separately, so it doesn’t come out of your ongoing quarterly budget:
- Restorative Care Pathway: time-limited support to help you maintain or regain independence, for up to 16 weeks
- End-of-Life Pathway: a separate budget for people approaching the end of life. It replaces your ongoing funding while you receive it rather than adding to it, over 12 weeks, with up to 16 weeks to use what’s left
- Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme: separately assessed funding for equipment and changes to your home
If you need equipment, changes to your home or support at the end of life, raise it with My Aged Care first. Don’t assume your ongoing budget has to stretch to cover it.
How Our Free Service Helps
Once you know your classification, the next step is finding a provider who has availability and offers the services in your support plan. That’s where we come in.
- Matching: providers near you that offer the services you’ve been approved for
- Availability: current openings, so you’re not waiting on a list that was full months ago
- Independence: we’re independent, and we don’t take payment from you
- No obligation: compare your options and decide in your own time
We can’t carry out your assessment or change your classification. Those decisions are made through My Aged Care and the Single Assessment System. Once you have your Notice of Decision, though, we can help you find the right provider for you.
Get your free Provider Options Report to compare home care providers near you with current availability.
Find Home Care Providers Near You
Understanding your Support at Home classification is the first step towards arranging the right care. Whether you’ve been approved for Classification 1 or require more comprehensive support under a higher classification, finding a provider that offers suitable services within your available funding is essential.
Aged Care Decisions offers a free, independent service to help you compare Home Care providers based on your approved classification, care needs, location and preferences.
Find Home Care Providers in Melbourne
Whether you need occasional domestic assistance or more comprehensive personal and nursing care, Aged Care Decisions can help you find Home Care Providers in Melbourne, compare suitable services and explore providers that meet your Support at Home needs and budget.
Find Home Care Providers in Sydney
Received your Support at Home classification and ready to explore providers? Our free matching service can help you find Home Care Providers in Sydney, compare available care options and identify providers offering services suited to your approved funding and individual needs.
Find Home Care Providers in Brisbane
From basic household support to more complex personal and clinical care, Aged Care Decisions can help you find Home Care Providers in Brisbane, explore suitable options and compare providers based on your Support at Home classification, preferences and care requirements.
Find Home Care Providers on the Gold Coast
Looking for a provider that can deliver services appropriate to your Support at Home classification? Aged Care Decisions can help you find Home Care Providers on the Gold Coast, compare local services and identify suitable providers based on your care needs, available funding and personal preferences.
Here’s how Aged Care Decisions’ FREE aged care matching service works:
